SUPERIOR, Wis. – Junior
Luther Tostrud hit seven three-pointers and scored a career-high 29 points, but the St. Olaf College men's basketball team was edged 82-81 by UW-Superior in its season opener at the NBC Tip-Off Classic on Friday night at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium.
Tostrud was 11-for-18 from the field, including 7-for-12 from three-point range, to nearly double his previous career-best scoring performance of 15 points, but it wasn't enough for St. Olaf (0-1) in its opener. UW-Superior (1-0) shot 56.4 percent (31-for-55) from the field and had four double-digit scorers in the one-point win.
In addition to Tostrud's 29-point night, sophomore
Cooper Carlson had a career-high 18 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field and 7-for-9 shooting at the free-throw line. Carlson added four steals, three rebounds, and three assists. Junior
AJ Uhl posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds as well for the Oles.
Neither team led by more eight points in the opening half as UW-Superior took a 40-35 lead into the break. A three-pointer by sophomore
Max Kraay gave St. Olaf its largest lead of the night at 23-18 with 8:38 remaining, but the Yellowjackets outscored the Oles by a 22-12 margin from there to take the five-point halftime lead.
After scoring just two points in the first half, Carlson came alive in the second with 16 points, as he, Tostrud, and Uhl combined for 41 of St. Olaf's 46 second-half points. UW-Superior quickly pushed its lead to nine in the opening 35 seconds of the half, but the Oles got their deficit down to one at 48-47 with 15:18 to go after five consecutive points from Uhl.
St. Olaf tied the game at 56-56 midway through the half on two free throws by Carlson and took a one-point lead on a layup by the sophomore with 7:18 remaining. A 5-0 run by Tostrud gave the Oles their largest lead of the second half at 69-66 with 6:06 to play, which was the largest lead either way from that point on.
After Tostrud hit a jumper to tie it up at 77-77 with 1:18 on the clock, Federico Foddai made the go-ahead three-pointer for the Yellowjackets. The two teams traded 2-for-2 trips to the free-throw line, leaving the hosts with a three-point lead with 13 seconds left. Out of a timeout, Tostrud got a look at a right-wing three-pointer that was put back up and in by junior
Jaxon Strinmoen as time expired.
St. Olaf will face No. 18-ranked UW-La Crosse at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7 to close out the season-opening tournament.
