MANKATO, Minn. – Senior Dominic Bledsoe scored a career-high 27 points to go with six rebounds, five steals, and four assists to lead the St. Olaf College men's basketball team to a 72-64 road win over Bethany Lutheran College on Saturday at North Gym.

Bledsoe shot 7-for-14 from the field and was 12-for-14 at the free-throw line to propel St. Olaf (2-1) to its second-straight victory. The win kept the Oles unbeaten in the all-time series with Bethany Lutheran (2-1), as St. Olaf has won all 13 head-to-head matchups.

Junior Charlie Haff joined Bledsoe in double figures with 11 points and nine rebounds, just missing out on a double-double. Sophomore Connor Martin added eight points off the bench to help the Oles to a 23-6 advantage in bench scoring.

The Vikings raced out to a 13-2 lead in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the game before St. Olaf outscored the hosts, 35-15, over the remainder of the first half to take a 37-28 lead at the break. The score was tied at 22-22 with 6:07 left in the half before the Oles went on an 11-2 run over a nearly five-minute stretch to take a 33-24 lead.

Bethany Lutheran erased St. Olaf's nine-point halftime lead in the first 10:30 of the second half, taking the lead back, 52-51, on a layup by Hunter Nielsen with 9:31 remaining. The bucket was part of a 14-0 run that gave the Vikings a six-point lead with 7:30 to go.

Bledsoe ended a scoring drought of over four minutes for the Oles with a three-pointer to start a 7-0 run that gave St. Olaf the lead again at 58-57, but Kaden Vaughn answered with a three-pointer for the hosts. The Oles countered with an 8-0 run, including four free throws by Bledsoe, to go ahead by six, 66-60, with 4:11 left and never let their lead dip below four the rest of the way.

Bledsoe was 5-for-8 from the field on his way to 12 first-half points before doing most of his damage in the second half from the charity stripe, where he was 10-for-12 over the final 20 minutes.

St. Olaf hosts North Central University (Minn.) on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. at Skoglund Center.