By ALEX NUEHRING
Saint Mary's Sports Information Intern
 
WINONA, Minn. —  Starting four freshmen and a sophomore, the future looks bright for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team.
 
Unfortunately, the Cardinals' opponent Monday evening, Saint John's, has a bright present—as the Johnnies took the court ranked No. 4 in the country and sitting atop the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
 
And the present—thanks to a 50-point first half—took it to the future, as the Johnnies, coming off just their second loss of the season last Saturday against St. Olaf, rolled past the Cardinals 79-46 at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Johnnies only needed four minutes to show why they're ranked among the nation's elite, as they burst out to a 12-3 lead. And SJU was just getting warmed up, limiting the Cardinals to a Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.) field goals and a Brady Stevens (St. James, Minn.) made free throw, while scoring nine points of their own to push the advantage to 15, 21-6, with 11 minutes remaining in the half.
 
Over those final 11 minutes, SJU outscored the Cardinals 29-10—using runs of 10-0 and 15-2—to take a commanding 50-16 lead heading into the locker room at the break.
 
The Johnnies scored the first two points of the second half, but the Cardinals responded with seven of the next 11—highlighted by a Jakob Bailey (Cameron, Wis.) 3-pointer. David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn.) scored five straight points to cut the deficit to 59-28 with 13 minutes remaining, but the Johnnies answered with a 6-0 burst that put the game out of reach.
 
Bailey finished with 10 points and five rebounds to lead Saint Mary's, while Rosner and Evan Huntley (Elk River, Minn.) each added six points. The Cardinals shot just 27.3 percent from the field (15-for-55) and were 3 of 15 from behind the free throw line. Thirteen of Saint Mary's 46 points came from the free throw line, where the Cardinals finished 13-for-19.
 
Tyler Weiss scored 17 points and hauled in six rebounds, while Jubie Alade added 12 points for the Johnnies, who got scoring from 14 different players. SJU shot 45.2 percent from the field (28-for-62) and drained five 3-pointers, while going 18-for-25 from the free throw line.
 
The Cardinals (0-16 MIAC, 1-20 overall) will begin a three-game road trip on Wednesday, heading to Moorhead, Minn., for a 5 p.m. showdown against Concordia.