WINONA, Minn. – Sophomore Connor Martin had 20 of his career-high-tying 22 points in the second half to lead the St. Olaf College men's basketball to a 65-64 victory at Saint Mary's University (Minn.) for its fourth-straight win on Monday evening at Saint Mary's Gym.

St. Olaf (12-9, 8-8 MIAC) trailed Saint Mary's (8-12, 6-10 MIAC) by a 36-24 margin at halftime but rallied after the break behind Martin's 20-point second half. The Oles shot 51.6 percent (16-for-31) from the field after halftime and overcame a six-point deficit over the final 3:11 to pull out the win after trailing for over 30 minutes.

With the Oles down 61-55 with 3:11 to go, senior Nathan Hendler scored four-straight points to start an 8-0 run that gave St. Olaf a 63-61 lead with under a minute to go for the Oles' first lead since it was 22-20 with 6:08 to go in the first half. St. Olaf tied the game on a layup by Martin with 1:37 remaining, forced a turnover, and then got the go-ahead layup by senior Dominic Bledsoe with 59 seconds to play.

After Saint Mary's split a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game, Bledsoe made a pair of free throws to get the lead back to three, but Raheem Anthony answered with a layup with 16 seconds remaining to get it back to a one-point margin. Bledsoe missed a pair of free throws with 15 seconds to go, but the Oles got a stop on the final possession to seal the one-point win.

Bledsoe and Hendler each had 10 points in the win to give St. Olaf three double-digit scorers on the night, while junior Michael Meriggioli had nine points and six rebounds. After shooting just 11-for-33 (33.3 percent) in the first half, the Oles shot 16-for-31 (51.6 percent) after halftime. St. Olaf had just two turnovers in the second half and a season-low five in the game.

Anthony paced the Cardinals with 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field but was just 3-for-12 at the free-throw line on a 9-for-19 (47.4 percent) night at the charity stripe for the hosts. Bruce Lockwood added nine points and 10 rebounds for Saint Mary's, which scored 42 of its 64 points in the paint.

The Cardinals held the Oles to one bucket in over four minutes to build a 13-6 lead and led for 13:57 of the first half on its way to the 36-24 halftime lead. St. Olaf went on a 9-0 run midway through the half to take a 20-17 lead but was outscored 16-2 over the final 6:08 of the half. The Oles were just 2-for-15 (13.3 percent) from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes.

Saint Mary's led by at least seven until St. Olaf got two layups from Hendler on either side of a Martin layup to cut the deficit to five, 48-43, with 11:44 remaining. Four-straight points by Martin helped the Oles tie the game at 49-49 with 9:26 to go, but the Cardinals answered with the game's next seven points to take the lead back, setting up the late St. Olaf rally.

The Oles have won 14 of the last 16 meetings in the series with the Cardinals, but four of the last five meetings have been decided by six points or fewer.

St. Olaf hosts Saint John's at Skoglund Center on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.