NORTHFIELD, Minn. -  The St. Olaf men's basketball team withstood a late Carleton surge and held on to beat the Knights 73-70 Saturday afternoon at Skoglund Center.

St. Olaf (6-1, 2-1 MIAC), which hosted a Coaches vs. Cancer game in which each coaching staff wore tennis shoes, led by eight points with 1:17 to play but Carleton (3-4, 1-2 MIAC) went on a 9-2 run in a 47 second span to cut the lead to one, capped by an acrobatic four-point play by Peter Bakker-Arkema.

The Oles held a 16-point advantage with 7:29 to play after a Sam Daly jumper. The Knights continued to chip away but St. Olaf made five of its final six free throws while the defense held Carleton scoreless over the final 30 seconds until Shane McSparron's three with under a second to play. McSparron finished with 19 points, a team-high.

Ben Figini had a game-high 21 points, 16 in the second half, to lead the Oles including an emphatic dunk with 32 seconds to play. Sterling Nielsen and Riley Aeikens added five steals each to lead the defensive effort.

Both teams were efficient from the floor as the Knights shot 65.1 percent (28-for-43) while St. Olaf shot over 50 percent for the game, including 61.5 percent (16-for-26) in the second half.

The Oles never trailed in the game and forced 23 turnovers while only turning the ball over 10 times themselves. That led to a 26-8 advantage in points off turnovers, including 14-0 in the second half.

St. Olaf will be in action on Monday, Dec. 22 when they host Northwestern (MN) at Skoglund Center at 7 p.m. Conference action continues in 2015 on Jan. 3 when Gustavus Adolphus travels to Northfield for a 3 p.m. tilt.