NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's basketball team fought back from a 23-point second-half deficit and had two shots to win it in the final seconds but neither dropped in a 71-70 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) loss to Augsburg University on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at Skoglund Center.

Augsburg (10-12, 6-7 MIAC) held a 48-25 lead after the first possession of the second half and was up 62-41 with 11:32 remaining before St. Olaf (2-19, 1-11 MIAC) stormed back. The Oles outscored the Auggies by a 30-9 margin over the final 12:51 and got two looks for junior Kobe Kirk in the final two seconds to complete the improbable rally but came up one point short.

Kirk led all scorers with 19 points on 6-for-19 shooting, including going 4-for-9 from three-point range, and also tallied six rebounds, three blocked shots, and two assists. Senior Addison Metcalf had 15 points on his Senior Day, while first year AJ Uhl logged his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.

Prior to the game, St. Olaf honored its two seniors – Metcalf and Dashiel Walker – and their families on the court for their efforts and contributions to the program over their careers.

St. Olaf shot just 23.3 percent (7-for-30) and committed 11 turnovers in the first half to dig itself a 20-point hole, as Augsburg shot 63.3 percent (19-for-30) and got 26 combined points from Trent Gomez and Andy Stafford in the half. The Auggies led by just three at 16-13 with 11:32 to go in the half before outscoring the Oles by a 29-12 margin the rest of the way to open up a 45-25 halftime lead.

Augsburg started the second half with a three-point play by Will Blascziek to take its largest lead of the game at 48-25 before St. Olaf started its comeback. Metcalf scored five points in a 7-0 run over 1:06 of game time to quickly trim the Oles' deficit to 16 less than two minutes into the half, but the visitors extended their lead back to 22 with 12:51 to play.

First years scored seven points in St. Olaf's 9-0 run that got the Oles within 13 at 62-49 midway through the half to start the 30-9 close to the game. Later, Kirk hit back-to-back three-pointers to get the deficit to single digits at 65-57 with 7:05 remaining and made another from long range to bring St. Olaf within four with 1:54 on the clock.

Augsburg held a two-possession lead at 71-65 with 1:29 to go before St. Olaf rattled off the next five points, including a three-point play by Kirk with 23 seconds to go that made it a one-point game. The Auggies proceeded to miss the front end of a one-and-one, leaving the door open for the Oles. Out of a timeout, Kirk missed a contested corner three-pointer but corralled the rebound in mid-air, only for his jumper to hit the backboard and rim and fall off.

St. Olaf shot 67.9 percent (19-for-28) from the second half and started the half by hitting 12 of its first 15 shots. Kirk had 15 of his 19 points after the break, while Uhl scored all 10 of his points in the second half. Meanwhile, Augsburg shot just 31.8 percent (7-for-22) from the field and committed 10 turnovers in the second half.

The Oles will take on Gustavus Adolphus College on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Skoglund Center.