Game Summary vs. Augsburg /
GameDay Online
WINONA, Minn. — If Saint Mary's University men's basketball coach Todd Landrum were a movie producer, he could not have scripted a better finish to his team's up-and-down season than what transpired on the SMU Gym hardwood Saturday afternoon.
Playing in their final game of the season, the Cardinals — fueled by the offensive exploits of
Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.),
Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.) and
Bradley Bruno (Chicago, Ill.) — gave their three graduating seniors a finale to remember, as SMU raced out to an eight-point halftime lead, then held off a late Augsburg rally en route to an 82-75 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.
“If feel so good for this group of guys,” said Landrum, whose team closed out its season with a 6-14 mark in the MIAC and a 7-18 overall record. “They never quit — not one of the 15 of them. They came to practice every day and worked hard and stuck together all season.
“This was a great team effort, and a great way to cap this season and head into next.”
The Cardinals did make things a little uncomfortable for their first-year head coach, however.
Up by 10, 80-70, with 32 seconds remaining, the Cardinals saw the Auggies get a rebound tip-in by Andy Grzesiak-Grimm to cut the gap to eight, 80-72, then, after an SMU turnover, watched as Matthew Quammen drained a 3-pointer to make it a five-point, 80-75 game with 23 seconds on the clock.
That, however, would be as close as the Auggies would get, as Bruno knocked down a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left and 3-pointers by Ben Flavin and Quammen both missed the mark to preserve the Cardinal victory.
Wright finished with a team-best 24 points, while Holland chipped in 21 and Bruno added 14. Holland also pulled down nine rebounds, falling one board short of his first collegiate double-double.
David Olson scored a game-high 27 points to pace the Auggies, while Grzesiak-Grimm netted 18.
SMU scored 40 points in the game's opening 20 minutes — two points shy of their season high — in taking its eight-point, 40-32, halftime advantage. SMU shot 46 percnet from the field, hitting 26 of 56 field goal attempts, including 7 of 18 3-pointers. The Cardinals were also 23-for-29 from the free throw line.
“I thought we defended better today than we have been recently,” said Landrum. “And we played with great confidence offensively. We've been in attack mode all season and that didn't change today — we attacked the basket from start to finish, and were able to knock down some shots.
“This was a great win for our guys.”
