MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The sixth-seeded St. Olaf College men's basketball team used a 10-0 run to start the second half to take the lead and held on the rest of the way to top third-seeded Augsburg University, 76-68, in the quarterfinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs on Tuesday evening at Si Melby Hall.

After trailing by four at the half, St. Olaf (13-13) held Augsburg (18-8) scoreless for the first 3:22 of the second half as part of the 10-0 run that gave the Oles the lead for good. St. Olaf led by as many as 13 with 11:26 remaining before the hosts closed the gap to three times in the final 3:15, but the Oles got timely baskets from Dominic Bledsoe, Michael Meriggioli and Noah Beck to seal the win.

With the victory, the Oles advance to the semifinals for the fifth time in the last seven seasons and will travel to top-seeded and third-ranked Saint John's on Thursday evening at 7 p.m.. The win was St. Olaf's first in the MIAC Playoffs since winning the second of its two titles in 2016.

Senior Nate Albers paced St. Olaf with 20 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals, scoring 14 of his 20 in the second half. Meriggioli matched his career high with 16 points and added seven rebounds, senior Noah Beck had 13 points, including a clutch three-pointer with 41 seconds remaining, and Bledsoe added 10 points.

Down 38-34 at the half, St. Olaf outscored Augsburg, 17-4, in the first 8:34 of the second half to open up its largest lead of the night at 55-42. Albers and Meriggioli combined for 17 of the Oles' first 19 points of the half, as they built up a double-digit-point lead. The Auggies gradually chipped away and trimmed their deficit to three, 65-62, with 3:15 left to go.

The two teams traded baskets over the next 2:10 with Augsburg answering buckets by Bledsoe and Meriggioli to stay within three with 1:05 on the clock. After a layup by Booker Coplin, first year Jake Weber found Beck open in the right corner for a game-sealing three-pointer with 41 seconds to go to push the St. Olaf lead to 72-66.

The Auggies missed a three-pointer on the next possession and, after three fouls got the Oles into the bonus, Albers knocked down to free throws to make it an eight-point game. After shooting 37.5 percent (12-for-32) from the field in the opening half, St. Olaf connected at a 51.5-percent clip (17-for-33) after the break, while holding Augsburg to 11-for-29 (37.9 percent) from the floor after halftime.

Augsburg turned the ball over on its first three possessions but made eight of its first 10 shots, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc, to open up a 22-14 lead eight minutes in. After trailing by eight, St. Olaf went on a 9-0 run to take a 23-22 lead on a put-back by Albers midway through the half.

The Auggies held the Oles to just two points over the next four-plus minutes to build a 31-25 advantage with six minutes remaining in the half. St. Olaf went into the locker room down just four, 38-34, despite the field-goal percentage disparity.

Booker scored a game-high 22 points and added 11 rebounds and five assists for Augsburg but was just 1-for-9 from behind the arc. Joe Palmer contributed 10 points for the Auggies, who were just 2-for-12 from three-point range in the second half.