NORTHFIELD, Minn. – For the second time in five days, the St. Olaf College men's basketball team knocked off the first-place team in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) standings by taking down Saint John's University, 77-70, on Wednesday evening at Skoglund Center.

After handing No. 22 Augsburg its first MIAC loss of the season on Saturday, St. Olaf (13-9, 9-8 MIAC) dealt Saint John's (18-4, 15-2 MIAC) just its second conference defeat of the season and trailed for only 19 seconds early in the game. The Johnnies entered the game as the third-best three-point shooting team in NCAA Division III – shooting 40.0 percent from behind the arc as a team – but were just 5-for-20 from long distance in the loss, while the Oles were 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) from three-point range in the win.

Senior Dominic Bledsoe and sophomore Connor Martin each had 18 points to lead the way for St. Olaf, as Bledsoe had 14 in the first half and Martin poured in a dozen after the break. Bledsoe was 5-for-9 from the field, including making a season-high four three-pointers on six attempts, while Martin added six assists to his 15th-straight double-digit-point performance.

Senior Nathan Hendler was an efficient 7-for-11 from the field on his way to a 15-point night, while junior Michael Meriggioli made a career-high three three-pointers on a night where he contributed 11 points and six rebounds. As a team, St. Olaf shot 47.3 percent (26-for-55) from the field and turned 13 offensive rebounds into a 21-9 edge in second-chance points.

Kooper Vaughn had 20 of his game-high 27 points in the second half for Saint John's, including nine points over the final 1:11 and 14 over the final 4:53. Vaughn was 8-for-17 from the field, 5-for-11 from three-point range, and 6-for-8 from the free-throw line. Zach Hanson was the only other Johnnie in double figures with 14 points.

After Meriggioli opened the game with a three-pointer, Saint John's scored the next five points to take its only lead of the game. Martin scored the next four points and Hendler followed with a layup to give St. Olaf a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way. Bledsoe hit back-to-back three-pointers eight minutes in to stretch the Oles' lead to 19-11 and had 14 points in the opening half to help St. Olaf to a 38-26 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Oles stretched their lead to as many as 17, 52-35, with 14:35 remaining after Meriggioli and Hendler hit back-to-back three-pointers in a mini 7-2 run. St. Olaf continued to lead by double figures until Vaughn started his late scoring outburst with a three-pointer with 4:53 to go to cut the Oles' lead to 64-55.

The Johnnies got within seven, 66-59, with 2:18 to go on a Vaughn layup, but Martin and junior Charlie Haff each sank a pair of free throws to push St. Olaf's lead back to double figures with 1:18 remaining. From there, Vaughn made all three free throws after being fouled on a three-pointer and added a pair of deep three-pointers to trim the Oles' cushion to 75-70 with 18 seconds to play.

St. Olaf made 11-of-13 free throws over the final 1:40 of the game to hold off Saint John's despite Vaughn's late barrage. The win snapped Saint John's seven-game winning streak as well as the Johnnies' six-game winning streak in the series.

The Oles take on crosstown-rival Carleton on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 3 p.m. at West Gym.