INDIANOLA, Iowa — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team learned first-hand what fellow Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes Augsburg and Gustavus had already discovered—Simpson can score points.
 
A lot of points.
 
For the third time in as many meetings against an MIAC foe, the Storm erupted for more than 80 points Monday evening, getting a game-high 40 points from Sam Amsbaugh and pulling away over the game's final 20 minutes in dealing the Cardinals an 82-66 nonconference setback at Cowles Fieldhouse.
 
The Cardinals scored the game's first basket, but found themselves playing catch-up the rest of the opening half, as Simpson built an early nine-point, 16-7 lead, and did not let Saint Mary's closer than two points in building a 40-35 halftime advantage.
 
Kevin Gleason's (Minneapolis, Minn.) 3-pointer with 6:51 remaining in the opening half got the Cardinals within two, 25-23, while a pair of Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) baskets kept Saint Mary's within two, 33-31 and 35-33. The Storm, however, used a half-ending 5-2 run to grab the five-point advantage heading into the game's final 20 minutes.
 
As was a case in the first half, the Cardinals once again scored the first basket to open the second, only to have Simpson answer with 21 of the next 34 points—capped by a 7-0 run that included five straight points from Brook Thompson—to give the Storm a 13-point, 61-48 lead with 10:06 remaining in regulation.
 
Cole Kruger (Hayfield, Minn.) answered with a 3-pointer to get the Cardinals back within 10, 61-51, but that was as close as they would get, as Simpson—behind 12 points from Amsbaugh over the game's final eight minutes—slowly pulled away in recording its fourth win in five tries this season.
 
Ferron picked up his second double-double in the Cardinals' first three games, scoring 12 points and adding 10 rebounds, while Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn.) also finished with 12 points and Quashingm Smith-Pugh (St. Paul, Minn.) and Kruger chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.
 
As a team, the Cardinals shot 36 percent from the field (24-for-66) and went 7 of 26 from the 3-point line.  Simpson, which also owns 95-71 and 90-78 wins over fellow MIAC foes Augsburg and Gustavus, went 28-for-59 from the field (47 percent), drained 8 of 20 3-pointers, and held a 45-33 rebound advantage.
 
Amsbaugh, who went 14-for-18 from the field—including 3 of 4 from behind the 3-point line—and added a 9 of 12 effort from the free throw line, was one of two Simpson players to finish in double figures, as Sabonis Smith chipped in 10 points.
 
The Cardinals (2-1 overall) kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, hosting Carleton in a 7 p.m. showdown at the Saint Mary's Gym.