NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's basketball team opened Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play by holding off Gustavus Adolphus College, 57-54, for its fourth-straight victory on Tuesday evening at Skoglund Center.

St. Olaf (4-1, 1-0 MIAC) led for over 30 minutes in the game and was up by 10 in the first minute of the second half before Gustavus (2-3, 1-1 MIAC) battled back to take its a 54-53 lead with 1:46 to go. The Oles scored the next four points on two free throws by senior Dominic Bledsoe with 1:29 left and a fast break dunk by senior Carter Uphus with 10 seconds remaining to take a three-point lead. Out of a timeout, the Gusties got a wide open three-pointer by Jake Guse from the left corner at the buzzer, but it would not fall.

Uphus led all scorers with a career-high 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field and grabbed five rebounds in the win. He was the lone Ole in double figures in the game. Junior Michael Meriggioli had nine points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals, while senior Nathan Hendler and junior Josh Albers each hit a pair of three-pointers on their way to eight-point nights.

Both only scored five points in the opening 8:28 of the game before Albers provided a lift for the Oles by hitting back-to-back three-pointers to give St. Olaf a 13-9 lead midway through the half. Later in the half, Hendler connected on back-to-back three-pointers of his own to push the Oles' lead to 25-17 with 3:50 to go to prompt a Gustavus timeout.

St. Olaf extended its lead to 10 twice in the final two minutes of the half before settling for a 32-24 lead at halftime. The Oles were 5-for-10 from behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes and had assists on 10 of their 13 made field goals in the half.

Kaleb Feahm scored eight-straight Gustavus points in the first 2:37 of the second half to bring the Gusties within three, 35-32, but St. Olaf answered with layups by Uphus and Hendler to quickly reclaim a seven-point lead. The visitors chipped away at the lead and trimmed their deficit to two, 44-42, on a three-pointer by Nolan Malo with 11:39 remaining.

The Oles held onto the lead until Adam Biewen scored four-straight points to give the Gusties their first lead since the 13:38 mark with 1:46 to play. After Biewen's two free throws put Gustavus ahead, Bledsoe drained a pair at the line to give St. Olaf the lead back with 1:29 on the clock.

Three possessions later, Malo missed a three-pointer that Meriggioli threw ahead to Uphus for a transition dunk to make it a 57-54 game with 10 seconds to go. The dunk was part of a 14-4 advantage in fast-break points in the game for the Oles.

After calling a timeout, Gustavus worked the ball to Guse in the left corner, but his first three-point attempt of the season rattled out at the buzzer. The Gusties were just 6-for-20 (30.0 percent) from behind the arc in the game.

St. Olaf heads to Macalester on Wednesday, Dec. 1 for a 7 p.m. tip-off in St. Paul.