WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team got double-figure scoring from both Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) and Quashingm Smith-Pugh (St. Paul, Minn.), but could not overcome a cold-shooting second half, as Concordia handed the Cardinals their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss of the season, 82-67, Saturday afternoon at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
Ferron scored a team-high 18 points and Smith-Pugh recorded his third double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but the Cardinals—trailing by just two at the half—hit on just 11 of 29 field goals, and were 2 of 11 from behind the 3-point line, as the Cobbers slowly pulled away en route to the victory.
 
Smith-Pugh made his presence felt in the first half, scoring 12 of the Cardinals' 35 points—including a thunderous dunk to cap a half-ending 5-0 run that pulled Saint Mary's within two, 37-35, at the break.
 
Concordia had the upper hand early, leading by as many as seven, 37-30, but as has been the Saint Mary's trademark this season, the 3-pointer helped the Cardinals claw back, as Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn.) drained his second trey of the first half to cut the deficit to 37-33, and Smith-Pugh followed with his coast-to-coast, half-ending dunk to end the opening 20 minutes.
 
Cole Kruger (Hayfield, Minn.) scored the first two points of the second half on a pair of free throws to pull the Cardinals even, 37-37—and Saint Mary's trailed by just 1, 51-50, with 13:05 remaining.
 
Unfortunately, as the Cardinals' touch cooled, the Cobbers' heated up, as Concordia scored 11 unanswered points and did not allow Saint Mary's to get within nine the rest of the way.
 
Ferron finished 7-for-10 from the field and 4 of 6 from the free throw line in recording his team-high 18 points, while Smith-Pugh recorded 12 of his 16 points and seven of his 11 boards in the game's opening 20 minutes.
 
Saint Mary's shot 41 percent from the field—going 13-for-29 in the opening half and 11-for-29 over the game's final 20 minutes. The Cardinals, who poured in a season-high 12 3-points in Wednesday's win over Carleton, managed to hit on just 6 of 23 treys against the Cobbers.
 
Dylan Alderman scored a game-high 21 points for the Cobbers—who had six of their eight players score at least 10 points. Austin Heins finished with 13 points, Kevin Wolfe and Guilherme Saad each chipped in 12, Austin Nelson pitched in 11, and Zach Kinny netted 10.
 
The Cardinals (1-1 MIAC, 3-2 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, traveling to Robertson Center in Arden Hills, Minn., for a 7 p.m. conference showdown with Bethel.