ST. PETER, Minn. – Fifth-year senior Dominic Bledsoe hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to send the fifth-seeded St. Olaf College men's basketball team into the semifinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs with a 76-73 victory at fourth-seeded Gustavus Adolphus College on Wednesday night at Gus Young Court.

After Gustavus (14-9) turned the ball over on an inbounds pass to give St. Olaf (16-10) the ball near midcourt, junior Michael Meriggioli inbounded the ball to Bledsoe in the front court and the fifth-year senior drilled a contested three-pointer from the right wing to send the Oles into the semifinals. With the win, St. Olaf advances to face top-seeded Saint John's in the semifinals on Friday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. in Collegeville.

The Oles have now appeared in the semifinals in five of the last eight editions of the MIAC Playoffs and are 6-11 all-time in the tournament.

While Bledsoe was the hero at the buzzer, sophomore Connor Martin scored a career-high 28 points on 11-for-18 shooting to propel St. Olaf to the win. The sophomore had 19 of his 28 points in the opening half and hit a career-high four three-pointers in five attempts, while also grabbing four rebounds and handing out six assists in 39 minutes.

Senior Nathan Hendler recorded his first-career double-double with 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, scoring 10 of his 14 points in the second half. Bledsoe played all 40 minutes and was also in double figures with 10 points, while junior Charlie Haff had nine points and eight rebounds.

Both regular-season meetings between the two programs were decided by six points or fewer, but St. Olaf was in control with a 67-55 lead midway through the second half before Gustavus rallied to set up the tense finish. Kaleb Feahn hit a pair of clutch three-pointers to help the Gusties rally, including one with 1:26 remaining to make it a 73-71 game.

After getting a stop on the next St. Olaf possession, Feahn was fouled and made both free throws to tie the game at 73-73 with 32 seconds to go in regulation. After a timeout, Bledose was stripped of the ball while going up for a jumper with six seconds remaining, setting up a fast-break opportunity for the Gusties, but the hosts called a timeout with 2.8 seconds remaining to set up a play.

On the ensuing inbounds play, Gustavus lobbed the ball towards the basket but the ball went straight out of bounds on a miscommunication to give St. Olaf the ball near half court to set up Bledsoe's heroics.

Martin carried the load for the Oles in the opening 20 minutes, scoring 19 of the Oles' 44 first-half points to help St. Olaf to a 44-40 halftime lead. The sophomore was 8-for-14 from the field in the half, including 3-for-4 from three-point range, and also had four assists before the break.

St. Olaf trailed by nine, 24-15, midway through the opening half before Martin scored or assisted on 19 of the Oles' final 25 points of the half to give his team a four-point halftime lead. The sophomore hit all three of his first-half three-pointers in the final 5:38 of the half, including one at the buzzer.

In the second half, the Oles turned a 48-44 lead into a 55-44 cushion with a 7-0 run made up of back-to-back layups by Hendler and a Martin three-pointer. St. Olaf led by at least seven points for over 10 minutes of game time until Gustavus cut a 67-56 deficit to 69-63 with a 7-2 run with less than six minutes left to set up the nail-biting final minutes.

Feahn had a team-high 19 points for the Gusties, who shot 51.7 percent (30-for-58) and committed just nine turnovers in the loss. Nolan Malo added 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, while Peter Lindquist added 11 points.

Friday night's semifinal in Collegeville will tip-off at 7 p.m. and marks the second-straight time the Oles and Johnnies have met in the semifinals of the MIAC Playoffs. Top-seeded Saint John's eased to a 71-43 win over sixth-seeded St. Olaf in the semifinals two years ago.