NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's basketball team shot 51.7 percent from the field on its way to a 73-62 victory over Saint John's University in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Skoglund Center.

St. Olaf (3-0, 1-0 MIAC) shot 57.6 percent (19-for-33) from the field on its way to a 48-27 halftime lead and held off a push by Saint John's (2-2, 0-1 MIAC) early in the second half to defeat the Johnnies for the second-straight regular season. The Oles have won consecutive games against nationally-ranked teams after downing then-No. 22-ranked Augsburg University, 77-73, on the road on Feb. 5, 2022.

Fifth-year senior Nathan Hendler scored a game-high 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting and pulled down five rebounds for St. Olaf, which had four scorers in double figures in the win. Senior Charlie Haff added 16 points on 7-for-12 from the field to go with five rebounds, senior Michael Meriggioli contributed 10 points and five rebounds, and first year Kobe Kirk poured in 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting off the bench.

A jumper by Kooper Vaughn on the first possession of the game gave Saint John's its lone lead of the game, but Hendler followed with a three-pointer and St. Olaf never trailed from that point on. The Oles led for 38:45 in the game and trailed for just 17 seconds.

Leading 11-10 four minutes in, St. Olaf used a 7-0 run over the span of 1:32 to build an eight-point cushion after a put-back by Haff. A three-pointer by Hendler with 10:53 to go in the half gave the Oles their first double-digit-point lead of the afternoon at 23-12.

St. Olaf led by double figures for the final 7:23 of the half and went into the locker room with its largest lead of the game at 48-27 after Haff hit a three-pointer in the closing seconds. Haff and Hendler combined for 22 first-half points and both hit two three-pointers before the break, as the Oles shot 5-for-11 (45.5 percent) from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes.

The Johnnies opened the second half with a 10-0 run over the first four minutes to quickly cut their deficit to 11 before Hendler snapped the run with a layup. Saint John's got within nine on two occasions shortly after Hendler's layup but could not get any closer. The Oles pushed their lead back to 17 at 71-54 with four minutes to go on a layup by Meriggioli before the Johnnies closed the game on an 8-2 run.

St. Olaf hits the road to take on Concordia-Moorhead on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 5 p.m.