NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Sophomore Rex Lamb scored a career-high 23 points for the St. Olaf College men's basketball team in a 76-69 season-opening loss to Wartburg College on Saturday afternoon at Skoglund Center.

Lamb shot 9-for-12 from the field, including going 3-for-4 from three-point range, to score a game-high 23 points for St. Olaf (0-1), which cut a 13-point second-half deficit to two with under four minutes remaining but was unable to complete the comeback against Wartburg (1-0). Lamb's 23 points were 12 more than his previous high mark of 11 as a first year.

Senior Kobe Kirk and sophomore AJ Uhl joined Lamb in double figures for St. Olaf, which shot 38.5 percent (25-for-65) from the field in the loss. Kirk recorded 19 points to go with five rebounds, three steals, and two blocks, while Uhl had 11 points and a team-high-tying seven rebounds on a 5-for-10 shooting afternoon.

Ethan Yungtum led four Knights in double figures with a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double that included six offensive rebounds. Austin Bienemann added 18 points, Cael Schramm had 13 points, and Gabe Trujillo added 10. Wartburg shot 48.2 percent (27-for-56) overall from the field.

Lamb knocked down his first three shots, including a pair of three-pointers, in the first three minutes to account for St. Olaf's first eight points of the season. Wartburg broke a 12-12 tie with an 8-0 run to take the largest lead of the opening half for either team nine minutes in. The Oles reclaimed the lead in the final five minutes of the half behind six consecutive points from Kirk as part of a 9-2 run but went into the half down by three at 40-37.

Wartburg pushed its lead to 62-49 midway through the second half with a 12-0 run before Lamb broke a drought of five-plus minutes for St. Olaf with a layup that ignited a mini 7-2 spurt to keep the Oles in it. Uhl scored five points in a 7-0 run that trimmed the Oles' deficit to 67-65 with 3:56 remaining, but the Knights got enough stops and made enough free throws from that point on to hold on.

St. Olaf will be back in action at Skoglund Center on Wednesday, Nov. 12 for a 7 p.m. tip-off against UW-Stevens Point.