WINONA, Minn. — Through the first three games of the season, it's come as no secret to opposing teams that the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team can be deadly from behind the 3-point line.
 
Ten 3-pointers in a season-opening win over Martin Luther … Ten more in a win against Luther … And seven in last Monday's nonconference loss to Simpson.
 
But those efforts paled in comparison to the 3-point clinic the Cardinals put on Wednesday evening in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener against Carleton.
 
Saint Mary's buried 12 3-pointers—including nine in the first half—and held off a late Carleton charge to beat the Knights 74-67 at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
Carleton netted the first point of the game—on a free throw by Beau Smit—but the Cardinals scored the next five, and never trailed again.
 
Saint Mary's, which did not allow a Carleton field goal until the 11:50 mark of the first half, built its lead to as many as 14, 28-14—on, what else? a 3-pointer by Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn.)—only to have the Knights rattled off 13 unanswered points to cut the lead to one, 28-27, with less than two minutes remaining.
 
Unfazed by the Knight burst, the Cardinal promptly knocked down three straight treys—one by Romportl and a pair from Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill.)—as the Cardinals took a 39-35 lead into the locker room at the break.
 
The Cardinals continued to show the hot hand from behind the arc, draining three second-half 3-pointers in helping to build a 12-point, 59-47 advantage with just over five minutes to play in regulation.
 
Carleton had one last push, whittling the lead down to as few as five, 61-56, before Saint Mary's closed the game on a 13-9 run to ice the victory.
 
Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn.) scored a team-high 15 points, as the Cardinals spread the offensive wealth—boasting five players in double figures. Hill and Romportl each chipped in 12 points, while Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) finished with 11 and David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn.) added 10.
 
As a team, the Cardinals shot 48 percent from the field (24-for-50)—including a 12-for-23 showing from 3-point land—while also going 14 of 16 from the free throw line. Carleton—which was led by Kevin Grow's 20-point, 11-rebound performance—finished at 43 percent from the field (23-for-53), but made just 6 of 17 3-pointers and were 15-for-23 from the line.
 
The Cardinals (1-0 MIAC, 3-1 overall) are right back in action on Saturday, playing host to Concordia in a 3 p.m. conference showdown at the Saint Mary's Gym.