WINONA, Minn. — If Wednesday evening’s Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Gustavus were a game of Texas Hold ’Em, Saint Mary’s University men’s basketball coach Todd Landrum was dealt the dream hand.
Before the flop, the Cardinal head coach held 30 points in the form of juniors
Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) and
Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.).
On the flop, he added 10 points from
Chris Palmer (Faribault, Minn.), 11 points from
Pat Freeman (Champlin Park, Minn.) and nine points and five assists from
Thomas Sims (Eagan, Minn.).
Then came the turn card — a 39-35 halftime advantage.
And on the river, Landrum got the most important card of all — a career-high 17-point effort from
Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.).
With a hand like that, how could the Cardinals go wrong? They couldn’t, as SMU snapped a 17-year drought against the high-powered Gusties, as Landrum rode his winning hand to a 78-75 conference win at the SMU Gym.
“It was a total team effort,” said Landrum, whose team beat the Gusties for the first time since a 72-70 win on Feb. 13, 1993. “Most of all, I happy for the players and the assistant coaches. We played a great game all the way around and I’m happy, because the kids are happy — that’s my satisfaction in a game like this.”
The Cardinals built leads as big as seven points in the opening 20 minutes, but could not shake the Gusties, who battled back to take a three-point, 29-26, lead with 5:45 remaining in the half. SMU would answer, using a half-ending 13-6 run to take a four-point, 39-35, advantage into the locker room at the break.
It was more of the same in the second half, with Gustavus holding all the cards early on, using a 19-9 burst to open the half to grab its biggest lead of the game, 54-48, with 12:15 on the clock. SMU regained the lead, 67-66, and after trading baskets, took the lead for good, 71-70, with 1:13 remaining in regulation on the first of two free throws from Holland. SMU would add six more free throws over the final 1:13 to seal the streak-snapping victory.
“We kept a short bench tonight — something I don’t like to do — but the guys made shots and gave us a chance to win,” said Landrum, whose team hits the road on Saturday, traveling to Saint John’s for a 3 p.m. conference showdown with the Johnnies. “Burfeind was great offensively, making 8 of 10 (field goals), Thomas Sims ran a great floor game with five assists and no turnovers, Lukas and Will did their thing, Connelly played great defense, Freeman made some big buckets and played great defense … It was just a great team effort.”