ST. PETER, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's basketball team rallied from a 13-point deficit midway through the second half to force overtime before falling, 96-90, to Gustavus Adolphus College on Wednesday evening at Gus Young Court.

Gustavus (9-6, 6-4 MIAC) led 67-54 with 9:50 remaining in the second half before St. Olaf (8-9, 4-8 MIAC) exploded for 29 points over the remainder of regulation to send the game to overtime. Kaleb Feahn scored seven of his game-high 30 points in the five-minute extra session for the Gusties, who salvaged a split of the regular-season meetings between the two programs.

Senior Nathan Hendler scored a career-high 25 points for St. Olaf, shooting 8-for-11 from the field, including 5-for-7 from behind the arc, and 4-for-5 from the free-throw line. Hendler and senior Dominic Bledsoe combined for 48 points, as Bledsoe added 23 on 10-for-13 shooting while playing all 45 minutes.

Sophomore Connor Martin and junior Brendan Kauls were also in double figures for the Oles, who shot 55.4 percent (36-for-65) from the field for their second-best shooting game of the season. Martin scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half and Kauls nearly had his first collegiate double-double with a career-high 12 points and a career-best nine rebounds.

Feahn, Nolan Malo, and Benji Lundberg combined for 76 of Gustavus' 96 points on the night. Feahn was 11-for-16 from the field, including 4-for-6 from three-point range, on his way to the 30-point night, while Malo shot 11-for-17 to score 27 of his own. Lundberg added 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting for the Gusties, who shot 52.8 percent (38-for-72) overall in the win.

Gustavus made seven of its first eight shots to take a 17-7 lead over the game's first 4:21 and held a 27-15 lead midway through the opening half. St. Olaf got the lead down to four, 32-28, with 6:31 remaining in the half after a 9-2 run, but the hosts quickly got the lead back to a dozen with an 8-0 run of their own.

Trailing 40-30 with 3:23 to go in the half, the Oles scored the final five points of the opening 20 minutes to make it a five-point game at the break. St. Olaf shot 56.0 percent (14-for-25) compared to 45.7 percent (16-for-35) for Gustavus in the half.

A three-pointer by Hendler before a steal and transition layup by Bledsoe helped the Oles tie the game at 44-44 less than two minutes into the second half. Neither team led by more than two for a five-minute stretch until a Malo three-pointer ignited a 12-0 run that gave Gustavus its largest lead of the night at 67-54 with 9:50 remaining in regulation.

St. Olaf responded with a 10-0 run of its own over the next 2:30 with Hendler and Bledsoe scoring all 10 points during the run to make it a three-point game with 7:20 left. Trailing by four with 3:42 to go, a three-pointer by Kauls and a three-point play by Martin gave the Oles their first lead since 5-3 at 79-77 with 1:43 on the clock.

Martin scored the final seven points of regulation for St. Olaf, giving the Oles leads of 81-79 and 83-31 in the final 62 seconds, but Gustavus answered each time to send the game to overtime tied at 83-83. Feahn scored five points in the first minute of overtime and Lundberg added a three-pointer to help the Gusties to a 91-87 two minutes in and St. Olaf was just 3-for-9 from the field in the extra session as the hosts hung on for the win.

The Oles travel to St. Paul to face Hamline on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 3 p.m.