It was another tough outing for the Ell-Saline Cardinals this afternoon, as they dropped a close one to Bluestem by a final of 50-46 this Saturday afternoon.

Head coach Marty Wendel liked the Cardinals’ odds in this one, as Bluestem entered at 3-5 on the season. The Cardinals and Lions went back and forth for the majority of the first half, with Ell-Saline’s biggest lead coming with 5:10 in the first half, leading 16-13, but a quick run by Bluestem put them in front going to halftime, 19-18. The lead grew even more in the second half, as the Lions stretched the advantage all the way to 33-24 with six minutes left in the game. Ell-Saline wouldn’t go away quietly though, as they cut the lead down to four with 1:39 to go. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they were unable to hit shots down the stretch and the Lions hit their free throws. Joe Heichel hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to make it a 50-46 final score.

The Cardinals were dominant on the offensive glass tonight, as both Kade Wilson and Mason Ellerman unofficially tallied 5+ offensive rebounds each. Wilson was the leader for Ell-Saline offensively with nine points. For Bluestem, Landen Wilson went 10/19 from the free-throw line and racked up a game-high 19 points.

Ell-Saline drops to 0-10 on the season and will face Minneapolis on Tuesday at home, their first home contest since December.