NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Senior Austin Korba shot 9-of-16 from the floor and tallied 21 points to lead the St. Olaf College men's basketball team to a 72-66 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) victory over Hamline University Monday night at Skoglund Center.

After St. Olaf (9-8, 8-4 MIAC) and Hamline (8-9, 5-7 MIAC) stayed within six points of each other the entire first half, the Pipers got within three, but the Oles scored the next nine points and extended their lead to 12 points. This accounted for their largest lead of the game and the Oles would remain on top the rest of the way.

Korba led the Oles with 21 points, five rebounds and two assists. Sophomore Dominic Bledsoe tallied 11 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals, junior Noah Beck added 10 points and four rebounds and first year Niko Polydorou posted a career-high nine points. All of Polydorou's points came in the first half.

Hamline scored the first six points of game after Ethan Scheuring finished a layup inside. The Oles answered with a 10-2 run and took their first lead of the game at 10-8 after Bledsoe found Korba for a basket.

St. Olaf extended their lead to as many as six points in the first half after a Korba free throw, but the Pipers came back with an 8-0 run to regain the lead with 7:27 remaining in the first half.

There were five lead changes in the last seven minutes of the half and at 1:26, Polydorou sank a three-pointer to give the Oles a five-point lead, but Michael Dillon of Hamline scored in the following possession to bring the Pipers within three.  With less than 30 seconds remaining in the half, Korba finished a layup to give St. Olaf a five-point lead heading into the half.

The Oles opened the second half on a 12-2 run and took a 12-point lead after junior Troy Diggins Jr. sank a jumper. Hamline climbed back within six points after Isaac Brooks drained a three-pointer with just over eight minutes remaining.

St. Olaf extended the lead to eight, but back-to-back baskets from the Pipers made the score 56-53 with 5:02 to go in the game. Korba answered with back-to-back baskets, which extended the lead to eight.

The Pipers trailed by seven with 1:31 remaining on the clock, but junior Nate Albers sank two free throws to extend the Oles lead to nine, followed by a Bledsoe free throw in the next possession. Two baskets from Brooks in the last 26 seconds cut Hamline's deficit to six.  Bledsoe drained a pair of free throws to help secure the victory.

The Oles shot 7-of-11 from three-point range in the second half, while shooting 53.85 percent from the floor.

St. Olaf is back to action on Wednesday, Jan. 23, as they travel to St. Peter, Minn. for a MIAC contest against Gustavus Adolphus, beginning at 7 p.m.