NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Visiting Saint Mary's University used a late 11-0 run to take the lead and held on for a 63-60 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) victory over the St. Olaf College men's basketball team on Wednesday evening at Skoglund Center.

St. Olaf (5-2, 2-1 MIAC) held a 55-52 lead with 5:50 remaining before Saint Mary's (3-3, 3-2 MIAC) held the Oles scoreless for over five minutes during the decisive 11-0 run to hand St. Olaf its first conference loss of the season. The loss also snapped the Oles' winning streak at five games.

Raheem Anthony led the way for the Cardinals with 24 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals on a night where he shot 7-for-12 from the field and 8-for-14 from the free-throw line. Kareem Anthony-Bello and Breyton Buysman added 11 points apiece for the Cardinals, who trailed for 29:07 in the game before rallying late.

Junior Charlie Haff paced St. Olaf with a season-high-tying 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Senior Nathan Hendler had 10 points and a career-high eight rebounds, while senior Dominic Bledsoe contributed 10 points while tying the program record with the 159th steal of his career.

The Oles used an 8-0 run over a three-minute stretch of the first half to take the largest lead of the game for either team at 21-11. The Cardinals chipped away at the deficit, taking a one-point lead of their own with 4:47 to go in the half on a three-pointer by Anthony-Bello. St. Olaf appeared destined to take a three-point lead into the halftime break until Anthony hit a three-pointer from beyond half court at the buzzer to make it a 33-33 game at the half.

Anthony and Buysman combined for 24 of Saint Mary's 33 first-half points, as Buysman had all 11 of his points before the break and Anthony's buzzer-beater gave him 13. Nine Oles scored in the first half as St. Olaf shot 50.0 percent (11-for-22) from the field early on.

Neither team led by more than three in the second half until a Hendler bucket in the paint put St. Olaf ahead by five, 46-41, with 10:38 remaining. The Oles pushed their lead to six, 50-44, two possessions later for their largest lead of the half.

Down by three with less than six minutes to go, Anthony made back-to-back layups to put the Cardinals on top, 56-55, with 3:36 to go to ignite the decisive 11-0 run. Later, Anthony found Noah Frechette for a three-pointer with 2:20 remaining to make it a four-point game.

Saint Mary's extended its lead to eight, 63-55, with 31 seconds remaining before Bledsoe hit a three-pointer and junior Michael Meriggioli had a steal and a layup to make it a one-possession game at 63-60 with 13 seconds on the clock. After a foul, Anthony missed the front end of a one-and-one, but St. Olaf missed a pair of potential game-tying three-pointers on the final possession as the Cardinals escaped with the win.

The Oles will look to bounce back on Saturday, Dec. 11 when they host Augsburg at 3 p.m. at Skoglund Center.