COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – For the third season in a row, the St. Olaf College men's basketball team saw its season come to an end at the hands of Saint John's University in the semifinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs, as the fifth-seeded Oles fell, 67-56, to the second-seeded Johnnies on Friday night at Sexton Arena.

St. Olaf (15-12) shot 50.0 percent in the opening half on its way to a 33-30 halftime lead, but cooled off to 33.3 percent in the second half and scored just 23 points after the break. With the win, Saint John's (17-9) – the three-time defending champions – advances to the championship game against top-seeded Carleton College on Sunday, Feb. 26 after the Knights downed sixth-seeded Hamline University, 68-51, in the other semifinal on Friday night.

The Oles were making their 10th appearance in the MIAC Playoffs in the last 12 seasons and their fourth in a row. St. Olaf has advanced to the semifinals of the tournament in seven of the last nine seasons. The game brought an end to the careers for fifth-year senior Nathan Hendler and seniors Charlie Haff, Jake Weber, Michael Meriggioli, and Luke Barnes.

First year Kobe Kirk scored a game-high 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting, including going 9-for-16 from behind the arc, for St. Olaf, which shot at a 42.9 percent clip (21-for-49) for the game and was just 4-for-14 (28.6 percent) from three-point range as a team. The Oles were also outrebounded by a 38-26 margin and were outscored in the paint by a 42-22 count. St. Olaf led for 19:51 in the game, compared to 19:02 for Saint John's.

Junior Connor Martin and senior Brendan Kauls were also in double figures for St. Olaf. Martin had 11 points and five assists before fouling out in the final minute. Kauls played all 40 minutes, recording 10 points and tying for the team lead with six rebounds.

Ryan Thissen led the Johnnies with 24 points on 10-for-16 shooting from the field, as Saint John's shot 46.4 percent (26-for-56) in the game. The hosts were just 3-for-14 (21.4 percent) from long distance but knocked down 12-of-14 (85.7 percent) free throws. Mitchell Plombon was 7-for-12 from the field on his way to 15 points and six rebounds, while Kooper Vaughn added 10 points for Saint John's.

Kirk provided most of the offense for St. Olaf in the opening half, scoring 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting to help the Oles to the three-point halftime advantage. Kirk scored the game's first five points to ignite a 12-4 start for St. Olaf over the first 4:39 and had 11 of the Oles' first 16 points over the first 6:46.

After St. Olaf led by as many as eight, Saint John's took its first lead of the night at 24-23 with 3:34 left in the opening half following a 7-0 run. Martin scored the final four points of the half, including a buzzer-beating layup, to send the Oles into the locker room with a 33-30 lead.

Thissen took over in the second half for Saint John's, scoring 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting over the final 20 minutes. The Johnnies started the second half on a 12-2 run to take a 42-35 lead with 12:25 remaining before the Oles got back within a point by scoring the next six points.

Saint John's used a 9-0 run over the span of a little over two minutes to stretch a 42-41 lead into a 51-41 cushion with 7:15 to play and led by at least four points the rest of the way. St. Olaf put together a 7-0 run to climb within four at 59-55 with still 2:45 to go but was unable to get any closer.