DULUTH, Minn. – Junior Kobe Kirk reached the 1,000-point milestone for the St. Olaf College men's basketball team in an 81-62 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) road loss to the College of St. Scholastica on Wednesday evening at Reif Gym.

Kirk became the 27th Ole to score 1,000 points in his career as part of a game-high 26-point performance for St. Olaf (1-12, 0-4 MIAC), which never led in the game. St. Scholastica (6-8, 2-3 MIAC) jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first four minutes and never looked back to claim their third win in the four MIAC meetings between the two programs in Duluth.

After entering the night 13 points shy of the 1,000-point landmark, Kirk hit the milestone on a free throw with 5:12 remaining in the opening half. The junior was 7-for-19 from the field and 11-for-12 at the charity stripe in his season-high 26-point effort, while also grabbing a team-high seven rebounds and blocking two shots. No other Ole had more than seven points in the loss, as St. Olaf shot just 33.3 percent (20-for-60) from the field.

Koy Nelson led St. Scholastica with 23 points, six rebounds, and four assists while shooting 10-for-16 overall and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. Aaron Keykal added a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Tanner Thomson tallied 10 points and a game-high four steals. The Saints shot 46.4 percent (32-for-69) from the field and 44.4 percent (8-for-14) from three-point range.

Kirk kept St. Olaf afloat in the first half with 16 points before the break, doing most of his damage at the free-throw line by going 10-for-10 at the stripe, as the Oles trailed 35-29 at the half. After trailing 10-2 early, the Oles got within one on a layup by Kirk midway through the half, but St. Scholastica responded with a 13-4 run over the span of 3:22 to open up a 12-point cushion.

St. Olaf was just 7-for-29 (24.1 percent) from the field in the opening 20 minutes but knocked down 14-of-17 (82.4 percent) of its free throws to stay within six at the break. First year Liam Roche scored all seven of his points in the opening half to account for 23 of the team's 29 points with Kirk.

The Oles started the second half on a 5-0 run on a three-pointer by first year Luther Tostrud and a layup by first year AJ Uhl to get within a point at 35-34 just 44 seconds in. Nelson ended the quick start for St. Olaf by knocking down three three-pointers in the span of less than 90 seconds to quickly push the Saints' lead to double figures at 44-34. St. Scholastica led by at least eight and as many as 20 over the final 17-plus minutes after Nelson's three-point barrage.

St. Olaf will host Concordia-Moorhead in a 1 p.m. tip-off at Skoglund Center on Saturday, Jan. 11.