WINONA, Minn. — Getting off to a good start was key for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team when they squared off against defending national champion St. Thomas Wednesday evening.
 
Surrendering eight of the game's first 10 points—and six unanswered points to kick off the second half—wasn't quite the start the Cardinals had in mind.
 
Fueled by their 8-2 run to open the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest, the Tommies raced out to a 50-25 lead at the half and never let the Cardinals closer than 17 over the game's final 20 minutes in handing Saint Mary's a 100-65 setback at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
After falling behind 8-2, the Cardinals whittled the lead down to four, 12-8 on a pair of baskets by Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.), but UST answered by going on a 15-5 run to push its lead to 14, 27-13. The Tommies continued to pull away, grabbing its biggest lead of the half, 50-25, on a Grant Schaeffer basket with three seconds remaining.
 
Fueled by a 6-0 start to the second half, the Tommies appeared in complete control with their 56-25 cushion. The Cardinals, however, had other ideas, using a 15-4 run to help shrink that 31-point deficit to 17, 63-46 with 12:30 remaining in regulation.
 
St. Thomas answered with five straight points from Connor Bair to push the lead back to 22, 68-46, and the Cardinals were unable to mount another comeback in falling to 3-7 in conference play.
 
Ferron scored a season-high 22 points, but was the only Cardinal to score in double figures. The senior knocked down 7 of 13 field goal attempts and was 8-for-11 from the free throw line. Saint Mary's shot 42 percent from the field (24-for-57), but could not find the range from outside, draining just 2 of 10 3-pointers.
 
The Tommies never cooled off after their 62 percent shooting effort in the first half, adding a 22-for-35 effort from the field over the game's final 20 minutes and finished hitting on 43 of their 69 field goal attempts—including 9 3-pointers.  Schaeffer led the Tommies with 20 points, whiel Jordan Burich chipped in 15 points and Michael Hannon added 13.
 
The Cardinals (3-7 MIAC, 5-9 overall) hit the road on Saturday, traveling to Concordia's Memorial Auditorium for a 3 p.m. MIAC matchup with the Cobbers.