RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The St. Olaf College men's basketball team overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to take a lead into the final two minutes but came up one point short in a 68-67 loss to UW-River Falls on Tuesday night at Don Page Arena.
After trailing by 10 points with under 14 minutes remaining, St. Olaf (4-6) fought its way back and led 67-64 with 1:34 to go before UW-River Falls (4-4) scored the game's final four points to come away with the win. After Zac Johnson's layup gave the Falcons the lead back with 18 seconds to go, the Oles had two shots to win it in the final seconds, but senior
Connor Martin's jumper and fifth-year senior
Brendan Kauls' tip-in would not go.
The loss came in St. Olaf's fifth game of the season that was decided by four points or fewer and marked the second season in a row UW-River Falls has topped the Oles by a single point.
Sophomore
Kobe Kirk led St. Olaf with 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting and also grabbed a team-high-tying five rebounds in the loss. Junior
Dashiel Walker had his highest-scoring performance in an Ole uniform with 12 points in 13 minutes off the bench, going 4-for-7 from the field and 2-for-4 from three-point range, while Martin added 12 points and six assists. Outside of Walker, St. Olaf was just 1-for-13 (7.7 percent) from behind the arc in the game.
Johnson paced the Falcons and tied Kirk for game-high honors with 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting, scoring 13 of his 17 points in the opening half. Logan Jedwabny caught fire late for UW-River Falls, scoring 11 of his 16 points in the final 7:07 of the game, including a nine in a three-minute stretch in the final five minutes. The hosts were just 6-for-24 (25.0 percent) from three-point range in the game but made 3-of-4 tries from deep to overcome a late 58-52 deficit.
Johnson carried the load offensively for UW-River Falls in the opening half, scoring 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting to help the hosts to a 37-30 lead at the break. The Oles never led in the half and trailed by as many as 12 at 31-19 with 5:02 left before closing the half on an 11-6 run that included a three-point play by Walker at the buzzer. Walker led St. Olaf with eight points in an opening half where the teams combined to go 4-for-23 from three-point range.
In the second half, UW-River Falls still led by 10 at 46-36 with 13:24 remaining before St. Olaf went on a 14-0 run over a three-minute stretch to take its first lead of the game. Walker had a four-point play early in the run, which included six points by sophomore
Ryan Warren, including a transition layup that broke a 46-46 tie.
The Oles matched their largest lead of the game at 58-52 on a jumper by Martin with 6:13 to go before Jedwabny led the Falcons back. Jedwabny hit three-pointers on either side of one by Marshall Holland to give UW-River Falls a 61-60 lead with 3:36 remaining, but St. Olaf answered with a layup by Kirk and a three-pointer by junior
Addison Metcalf to take a 65-51 lead with 2:33 on the clock.
The Falcons made it a one-possession game on a three-point play by Jedwabny with 2:14 to go to cap his 13-point second half. A pair of free throws by Kirk left St. Olaf up 67-64 before Michael Thompson and Johnson made late layups to give UW-River Falls the win. Warren had all eight of his points in the second half, while Kirk poured in 12 points after the break.
St. Olaf is off for over two weeks before closing out 2023 with a visit to UW-Eau Claire for a 5 p.m. start on Saturday, Dec. 30.
