MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team found themselves in the role of spoiler Monday evening—and the Cardinals played it to perfection.
 
Saint Mary's rallied from a nine-point second half deficit—thanks in part to the clutch, long-range shooting of James Cullen (Western Springs, Ill.)—knocking off Concordia 56-55 at Memorial Auditorium, and keeping the Cobbers from locking up an MIAC Playoff berth
 
Concordia's Dylan Alderman scored the game's first basket and the Cobbers would not relinquish the lead until Cullen knocked down his third 3-pointer of the game to give Saint Mary's a 47-46 lead with 6:30 remaining in regulation.
 
The Cobbers would regain the lead, using a 4-0 run to hold a two-point, 51-49 edge. Connor Kaiser (Rockland, Wis.) gave the lead back to Saint Mary's, 52-51, draining another 3-pointer—the Cardinals' fifth of the half—with 3:30 left to play.
 
The Cardinals sandwiched field goals by Quashingm Smith-Pugh (St. Paul, Minn.) and Kaiser around a free throw by Concordia's Jordan Bolger to push the Cardinal lead to a game-high four, 56-52 heading into the game's final minute.
 
Alderman made one of two free throws and, after a pair of Saint Mary's misses from the charity stripe, added a basket from underneath to cut the Cardinal lead to one, 56-55.
 
Saint Mary's came up empty on its next trip down the court, but the Cobbers could not capitalize, missing a pair of free throws with 40 seconds to play. On its next possession, Saint Mary's was called for an offensive foul, but Bolger's 3-point attempt in the game's waning seconds spun off the rim, securing the Cardinal win—and snapping their nine-game losing streak against the Cobbers.
 
Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.)­—who became the 26^th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points on Saturday against Saint John's—scored a team-high 12 points, while Smith-Pugh added 10 and Cullen finished with nine.
 
As a team, the Cardinals shot 46 percent from the field (22-for-48), and knocked down 8 of 17 3-point attempts.
 
Alderman scored a game-high 19 points and Bolger finished with 12 for the Cobbers, who were held 25 points under their season scoring average by a tenacious Cardinal defense.
 
The Cardinals (6-10 MIAC, 8-13 overall) return to action on Wednesday, playing host to Bethel in a 7 p.m. conference matchup at the Saint Mary's Gym.