ST. PETER, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's basketball team closed out the 2024 portion of its schedule with an 82-49 loss to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) foe Gustavus Adolphus College on Wednesday night at Gus Young Court.

St. Olaf (1-9, 0-2 MIAC) was down just five with a little over four minutes to go in the opening half before Gustavus (6-2, 3-0 MIAC) closed the half on a 12-0 run to take a 17-point halftime lead. The Gusties, who started three fifth-year seniors and two traditional seniors, did not trail in the game and led by double figures for the final 22-plus minutes.

Eleven Oles scored in the loss although none had more than eight points. Senior Addison Metcalf and junior Kobe Kirk tallied eight points apiece, sophomore Jachin Mertes added seven, and first year James Polasky scored a career-high six points in nine minutes for St. Olaf, which shot 40.0 percent (20-for-20) from the field in the game.

Eleven Gusties also scored in the win, led by a game-high 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting from Spencer Swanson. Myles Barnette contributed 13 points in 16 minutes off the bench, while Adam Biewen registered 10 points on an efficient 4-for-5 shooting night. Gustavus shot 65.3 percent (32-for-49) from the field and 64.3 percent (9-for-14) from three-point range in the game. The hosts enjoyed advantages of 46-26 in points in the paint, 28-16 in points off turnovers, and 38-23 in bench points on the night.

After trailing 9-2 four minutes in, St. Olaf stayed within touching distance for the majority of the first half. The Oles cut their deficit to two on two occasions with over 12 minutes remaining and were down just four at 26-22 with 6:52 left after back-to-back layups by first year Luther Tostrud. A jumper by Kirk with 4:16 to go in the half reduced Gustavus' lead to 29-24, but the Oles did not score the rest of the half to go into the break trailing 41-24.

The Gusties extended their lead to 57-29 by starting the second half on a 16-5 run over the first four-plus minutes to break the game wide open. Gustavus led by as many as 39 points in the second half.

After an extended break for finals and the holidays, the Oles will return to the court in 2025 with a home game against Bethel University on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 1 p.m.