NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's basketball team clinched its eighth Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs appearance in the last 10 seasons with a 90-79 Senior Day victory over Macalester College on Saturday afternoon at Skoglund Center.
St. Olaf (12-13, 9-11 MIAC) entered the day knowing it needed to win to earn a postseason berth and shot 57.6 percent (19-for-33) from the field in the second half to overcome a two-point halftime deficit to defeat Macalester (8-17, 5-15 MIAC). As the No. 6 seed, the Oles will visit No. 3 seed Augsburg University in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. in Minneapolis.
The victory marked the final home games in the careers of St. Olaf's four seniors: Troy Diggins Jr., Noah Beck, Travis Fauchald and Nate Albers. The quartet combined to score 55 points in the win and earn their third-straight trip to the conference tournament.
Diggins Jr. paced St. Olaf with 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and was one of four Oles in double figures. Junior Dominic Bledsoe posted 17 points, six rebounds and six assists, Beck added 16 points, and Fauchald scored a career-high 11, as the Oles shot 55.0 percent (33-for-60) overall.
Macalester opened up a 10-6 lead early on before St. Olaf hit five-straight shots during a 14-0 run to take a 20-10 lead with 11:27 left in the half. The Scots replied with a 15-2 run to go up by four, 34-30, with 2:04 remaining and led by two, 39-37, at the half after a late three-pointer by first year Charlie Haff.
St. Olaf started the second half on a 10-2 run, capped by three-pointers by Diggins Jr. and Bledsoe, to reclaim the lead at 47-41 with 17:26 on the clock. The Oles were still up by five with 7:46 remaining before a Diggins Jr. three-point play started a mini 5-0 run that pushed the lead to double figures, 71-61, with under seven minutes to go.
The St. Olaf lead never dipped below six points over the remainder of the game as Beck hit a corner three-pointer with 5:26 after Macalester got within six. Fauchald added five points late on to help the Oles maintain a comfortable lead.
Ramos led Macalester with 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting, while Jackson Henningfield had 15 points and nine rebounds. Shane Anderson and Tyler McFarland contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Scots, who shot 52.7 percent (29-for-55) on the afternoon.