NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Sophomore Rex Lamb and senior Kobe Kirk combined for 43 points to lead the St. Olaf College men's basketball team to a 68-62 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) victory over Hamline University on Saturday afternoon at Skoglund Center.

After defeating Hamline (11-7, 3-6 MIAC) in the final seconds last Saturday in St. Paul, St. Olaf (12-7, 8-2 MIAC) completed a regular-season sweep of the Pipers behind 20-point performances from Lamb and Kirk. The win ran the Oles' winning streak to five games and was the team's seventh victory in its last eight MIAC games.

Kirk posted his eighth 20-point game of the season by scoring a game-high 22 points on 10-for-16 shooting for St. Olaf. Lamb was 7-for-14 from the field, 3-for-7 from three-point range, and 4-for-4 at the free-throw line in a 21-point, four-assist afternoon. Sophomore Liam Madigan contributed nine points and six rebounds, while sophomore AJ Uhl had eight points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Raoul Vaidya paced Hamline with 16 points on 6-for-17 shooting, including going 4-for-13 from long distance, and handed out four assists. Dane DeDominces was 7-for-12 from the field while scoring 15 points. Both teams struggled from three-point range, as Hamline was 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) and St. Olaf 5-for-23 (21.7 percent).

St. Olaf started the game by hitting five of its first eight shots to open up a 12-6 lead five minutes in for the largest lead of the first half for either team. Hamline rallied from a pair of six-point deficits to take its first lead since the opening 90 seconds at 31-28 with a 7-0 run, but the Oles took a one-point halftime lead on a layup in the final seconds by Uhl. Kirk led all scorers with 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the first half.

Early in the second half, Uhl had a dunk and a layup as part of a 6-0 spurt that gave St. Olaf a 46-38 lead five minutes in before the Oles stretched their lead to 11 three minutes later. Kirk capped an extended 12-3 run with a layup that resulted in St. Olaf's largest lead of the game at 52-41 with 11:38 remaining.

St. Olaf was still up by 11 with 5:11 to play before Hamline went on a 10-3 run to make it a four-point game with a little over two minutes to go. The Oles got back-to-back defensive stops and made 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Lamb (13) and Kirk (11) combined for 24 of St. Olaf's 34 second-half points.

Next up for the Oles is a trip to Macalester College for a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, Jan. 31 in St. Paul.