NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's basketball team recovered from surrendering a seven-point lead in the final 70 seconds of regulation to grab a 94-84 overtime victory over Saint Mary's University on Saturday afternoon at Skoglund Center.

St. Olaf (2-4, 1-2 MIAC) held a 78-71 lead with 1:07 remaining in the second half before Saint Mary's (1-6, 0-3 MIAC) scored the final seven points of regulation to extend the game to overtime. The Cardinals were just 2-for-8 (25.0 percent) from the field in the five-minute extra session, however, as the Oles claimed their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) victory of the season.

Sophomore Kobe Kirk led St. Olaf with a game-high 25 points, including going 7-for-7 from the free-throw line, while adding six rebounds, five assists, two steals, and one blocked shot in his fourth 20-point performance of the season. Senior Connor Martin was 9-for-16 from the field while totaling 24 points and seven rebounds, with the 24 points being his highest output of the season. Fifth-year senior Brendan Kauls had a career-high 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds.

Saint Mary's hit five of its first six shots from the field to get out to an 11-8 lead five minutes in, but St. Olaf put together an 8-0 run later in the half to take its largest lead of the half at 28-22 with 6:51 remaining, with Kauls scoring the first four points of the run. Martin hit back-to-back three-pointers in the final 90 seconds of the half to keep the Oles ahead at halftime by a 43-39 margin despite the Cardinals shooting 57.1 percent (16-for-28) from the field.

St. Olaf started the second half with layups by Martin and Kauls to open up an eight-point cushion, but Saint Mary's trimmed its deficit to two at 53-51 with 13:54 to go. A three-pointer by first year Jachin Mertes and five-straight points by Kirk pushed the Oles' lead back to eight at 61-53 less than two minutes later and, midway through the half, a three-point play by Kirk put St. Olaf on top 66-57 for its largest lead of the game.

St. Olaf never trailed in the second half and got a combined 24 points from Kirk and Martin after the break but needed overtime after Saint Mary's took advantage of a missed front end of a one-and-one and a turnover by getting a three-pointer from Breyton Buysman and a three-point play by Bruce Longwood in the final 90 seconds to extend the game to overtime.

Kauls broke an 80-80 tie by draining a three-pointer with 3:16 to go in overtime that gave the Oles the lead for good. St. Olaf was 9-for-10 from the free-throw line in overtime, including going 6-for-6 over the final 1:24, and got enough stops defensively to finish off the win.

St. Olaf hosts crosstown-rival Carleton College on Monday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at Skoglund Center.