NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The third-seeded St. Olaf College men's basketball team fell, 69-68, to sixth-seeded Augsburg University in the final seconds in the quarterfinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Men's Basketball Playoffs on Tuesday night at Skoglund Center.

After being swept by Augsburg (17-9) by scores of 101-77 and 101-84 during the regular season, St. Olaf (15-11) held a 66-60 lead with 2:57 remaining after back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore Luther Tostrud. The Auggies outscored the Oles by a 9-2 margin over the remaining time and got a pair of free throws from JJ Semanko with four seconds remaining to come away with the win.

The loss brought an end to a resurgent season for St. Olaf, which recorded an 11-win improvement from last season and made the MIAC Playoffs for the first time since 2023. It was also the final game in the collegiate career of Kobe Kirk, the lone senior on this year's roster, who finished his career with 1,686 points to rank second on the Oles' all-time scoring list.

Kirk led St. Olaf with 20 points for the 32nd 20-point performance of his career. Sophomore Liam Madigan registered his first collegiate double-double with 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting, 15 rebounds, five assists, and three steals. The Oles were playing without sophomore AJ Uhl, their second-leading scorer, due to injury.

Semanko scored a game-high 25 points on 9-for-15 from the field and 6-for-8 at the free-throw line while pulling down nine rebounds for Augsburg. Elias Batala added 19 points, while Hanif Muhammad has 12, as the trio combined for 56 of the Auggies' 69 points.

After giving up 101 points in each of the regular-season meetings, St. Olaf held Augsburg to 27 first-half points on its way to a six-point halftime lead. The Oles opened the game by holding the Auggies scoreless for the first 4:48 as part of a 9-0 start. St. Olaf led by as many as 15 at 21-6 nine minutes in after a 10-0 run that ended with back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore Rex Lamb and first year Cooper Carlson.

After trailing by 15 three times, Augsburg cut its deficit to four at 31-27 in the final two minutes of the half before a jumper by Madigan gave the Oles a 33-27 halftime advantage. St. Olaf never trailed in the opening half and led for 19:11 of the 20:00.

The Oles opened the second half on a 6-0 mini run on a three-point play by Kirk and a three-pointer by Lamb to push their lead back to 12 just 1:24 in. The Auggies responded with a 13-0 run to take their first lead of the game at 40-39 with 14:56 to go.

Augsburg extended its lead to as many as seven at 55-48 with 9:17 remaining and was up 60-56 with 5:53 left before St. Olaf scored 10 consecutive points, including the back-to-back three-pointers by Tostrud, to go up by six with 2:57 on the clock.

A layup by Madigan with 32 seconds to go kept the Oles' lead at three, but Semanko answered with a jumper and, after St. Olaf missed the front end of a one-and-one, a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to send the Auggies to the semifinals. Semanko had 21 points on 7-for-9 from the field and 6-for-6 at the free-throw line in the second half.