ST. PAUL, Minn. – In a game neither team led by more than six points, the fifth-seeded St. Olaf College men's basketball team edged fourth-seeded Macalester College, 56-54, in the quarterfinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs on Tuesday night at the Leonard Center.

St. Olaf (15-11) equaled its largest lead of the night at 54-48 with 2:47 remaining before Macalester (15-11) clawed back to within two with 1:20 remaining, but neither team was able to score the rest of the way. With the Oles clinging to the 56-54 lead, the Scots got an offensive rebound with 0.7 seconds left and, out of a timeout, got a look at a game-winning three-pointer by leading scorer Caleb Williams at the buzzer, but the shot hit off the rim and bounced off.

With the victory and sixth-seeded Hamline University's 90-84 double-overtime victory at third-seeded Saint Mary's University, St. Olaf will travel to second-seeded Saint John's University for the semifinals on Friday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. The matchup will mark the third-straight season the Oles and Johnnies have met in the semifinals.

Fifth-year senior Nathan Hendler scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the second half for St. Olaf, which shot just 34.5 percent (20-for-58) from the field and 23.1 percent (3-for-13) from three-point range in the win. The Oles knocked down 13-of-15 (86.7 percent) free throws and turned 14 offensive rebounds into an 11-4 advantage in second-chance points.

First year Kobe Kirk was the only other Ole in double figures with 10 points and seven rebounds. Junior Connor Martin recorded eight points, four rebounds, four assists, and four steals, while seniors Michael Meriggioli and Brendan Kauls combined for 21 of St. Olaf's 45 rebounds.

Williams – the second-leading scorer in the MIAC in conference games – had a game-high 21 points for Macalester but finished the game just 6-for-20 from the field, including going 0-for-10 in the second half. Noah Shannon recorded 10 points and five rebounds for the Scots, who shot just 31.1 percent (19-for-61) for the game and were 6-for-20 (30.0 percent) from long distance.

Williams scored 17 of his 21 points in the opening half, including scoring 13 of Macalester's first 19 points in the game, to help the Scots to a narrow 30-29 halftime lead. A three-pointer by senior Josh Albers with 8:15 left in the half gave St. Olaf a 22-16 lead, which was the largest for either team in the opening half. The Oles led for 15:28 in the opening half despite shooting just 35.5 percent (11-for-31) before the break.

Macalester started the second half with a transition layup by Badou Ba and a three-pointer by Coby Gold to take its largest lead of the game at 35-29 a minute and a half in. Hendler scored seven-straight St. Olaf points to swing the lead back to the Oles at 42-41 with 11:36 remaining. Hendler's spurt was part of a 9-2 run that put St. Olaf up 44-41 and the Oles never trailed from that point forward.

St. Olaf equaled its largest lead of the game at 54-48 wit 2:47 to go following a jumper by Kirk and a layup by Meriggioli, but Macalester answered with a three-pointer by Gold and a free throw by Robert Grace IV to make it a two-point game inside the final two minutes. After Meriggioli and Williams traded 2-for-2 trips to the free-throw line, the Oles got a pair of stops defensively and survived Williams' three-pointer at the buzzer.

Tip-off for Friday night's semifinal is set for 7 p.m. at Sexton Arena. The other semifinal sees top-seeded Carleton College host sixth-seeded Hamline at West Gym.