NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Junior Nate Albers hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:01 remaining in overtime and classmate Troy Diggins Jr. sank a jumper on the next possession, as the St. Olaf College men's basketball team edged Saint Mary's University (Minn.) in overtime, 90-85, on Thursday evening at Skoglund Center.

With Saint Mary's (7-13, 3-12 MIAC) clinging to a one-point lead late in overtime, Albers drained a three-pointer from the right corner with one second on the shot clock to put St. Olaf (10-9, 9-5 MIAC) ahead 87-85. After a missed three-pointer by the Cardinals, Diggins Jr. hit a one-handed jumper from the right baseline to give the Oles a two-possession lead they would hold onto.

Senior Austin Korba led St. Olaf with 22 points and seven rebounds, shooting 6-for-12 from the field and 4-for-8 from behind the arc. Diggins Jr. shot 9-for-12 from the floor with 21 points, six rebounds and six assists, while sophomore Dominic Bledsoe added 19 points, six rebounds and six assists on an 8-for-13 shooting night.

Korba scored 16 points in the opening 7:40 of the game, making his first five shots from the field, including four three-pointers, but St. Olaf led just 24-22 at the time. Back-to-back three-pointers from Diggins Jr. and junior Noah Beck started an 8-0 run that put the Oles on top, 39-31, with 6:21 to go in the half, but a three-pointer from Eli Cave with 4:00 to go brought Saint Mary's back within three, 41-38.

A jumper by Bledsoe and a three-point play from Beck on consecutive possessions brought St. Olaf's lead back to eight, 46-38, with 3:11 left in the half and the Oles took a 48-42 lead into the locker room. St. Olaf shot 63.3 percent (19-for-30) from the field in the opening half with the team's starting five scoring 46 of the team's 48 points.

Layups by Diggins Jr. and Beck gave St. Olaf its largest lead of the game at 52-42 with 17:56 remaining in regulation before Sawyer Rosner scored nine-straight points as part of an 11-3 run that brought the Cardinals back within two, 55-53, with 15:28 on the clock.

The Oles gradually pushed their lead back to eight, 66-58, with 8:39 to play, but the Cardinals tied it up at 68-68 three minutes later on another Rosner three-pointer that capped a 10-2 run by the visitors. Five-straight points by Bradley Hill gave Saint Mary's its first lead of the second half at 75-73 with 2:05 to go before Bledsoe answered with a three-pointer with 1:49 left to swing the lead back to the Oles, 76-75.

After the teams traded pairs of free throws on the next two possessions, Diggins Jr. got a steal with 37 seconds left and Albers sank two free throws with 23 seconds remaining to give St. Olaf an 80-77 advantage. Out of a Saint Mary's timeout, Cave drilled a three-pointer from near the right corner to send the game to overtime tied at 80-80.

Cave scored the first three points of overtime before back-to-back buckets from Diggins Jr. and Bledsoe put the Oles up 84-83 a minute and a half into the extra session. A Caden Freetly basket with 1:34 left gave the lead back to the Cardinals, 85-84, before Bledsoe found Albers in the right corner for what proved to be the decisive three-pointer, his lone field goal of the game.

Cave and Rosner each had 24 points for Saint Mary's. Rosner also grabbed 12 rebounds and shot 5-for-11 from behind the arc. Cave was 10-for-18 from the field and recorded six rebounds and three assists. Hill contributed 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting off the Cardinals' bench.

St. Olaf committed a season-low four turnovers in the game and enjoyed a 13-0 advantage in points off turnovers. The Oles shot just 32.3 percent (10-for-31) in the second half but were 4-for-7 (57.1 percent) from the field in overtime, while the Cardinals were just 2-for-9 (22.2 percent).

Next up for St. Olaf is a lengthy trip to Concordia College (Minn.) to take on the Cobbers on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 3 p.m.