ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's basketball team outscored Macalester College by a 21-2 margin over the final seven-plus minutes to claim a 75-72 come-from-behind victory on Saturday afternoon at the Leonard Center.

Despite entering the day with just one Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) victory to its credit, Macalester (6-14, 1-10 MIAC) led for over 37 minutes in the game and was up 16 inside the final eight minutes before St. Olaf (13-7, 9-2 MIAC) rallied for its sixth consecutive win. The win marked the second time this season the Oles have come back from a deficit of at least 15 points after St. Olaf overcame a 16-point deficit in a 75-74 victory at Hamline University on Jan. 17.

Senior Kobe Kirk scored 11 of his team-high 18 points over the final 7:31 to lead the Oles' comeback. Sophomores Rex Lamb and AJ Uhl recorded 16 points apiece, with Uhl adding a career-high-tying 14 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Both Lamb and Uhl shot 6-for-10 from the field and the duo combined to go 5-for-8 from behind the arc. St. Olaf committed just six turnovers – one shy of its season-low total – in the win.

Noah Shannon, the MIAC's leading scorer, scored a game-high 30 points on 11-for-20 from the field and 8-for-11 at the free-throw line while adding eight rebounds for Macalester, which shot 63.0 percent (17-for-27) from the field in the first half before falling off to 35.5 percent (11-for-31) in the second. Kyle Jilla was the only other Scot in double figures with 10.

Shannon scored 13 points in the opening half to help Macalester to a 44-40 halftime lead after the Scots led for over 18 minutes and trailed for less than one minute. Sophomore Liam Madigan hit a pair of three-pointers in the first 2:40 before the Scots went on an 8-0 run to open up a 21-12 lead nine minutes in for Macalester's largest lead of the half.

After trailing by nine inside the final six minutes of the first half, St. Olaf went on an 8-0 run that included six points by Lamb to cut its deficit to one. Macalester scored five points in the final minute of the half to take a 44-40 lead into the break. Lamb was 3-for-5 from behind the arc in a 14-point first half.

Macalester built its largest lead of the game at 66-48 with 10:39 remaining following a 9-0 run that included seven points from Shannon. The Scots were still up by 16, 70-54, with 7:51 to play before the Oles held the hosts to two points the rest of the way as part of the 21-2 finish to the game.

St. Olaf went on a 12-0 run to cut its deficit to 70-66 with 4:17 remaining before getting within one after Kirk scored five consecutive points to make it a 72-71 game with a three-point play with 1:44 on the clock. After a defensive stop, Lamb drove to the basket for the go-ahead layup with 54 seconds left and Kirk hit a pair of free throws after another stop to put the Oles up by three with 4.1 seconds to go.

Out of a Macalester timeout, the Scots went the length of the court and got a wide-open three-pointer for Shannon that hit the back iron and fell off at the buzzer. Shannon had 17 points after the break for the Scots, while Kirk scored 11 of his 13 second-half points in the final 7:51.

St. Olaf will return to Skoglund Center for a 7 p.m. tip-off against Bethel University on Wednesday, Feb. 4.