It was the second win for the Oles over Luther this season. St. Olaf downed the Norse 75-69 in overtime at Skoglund Center on Nov. 23.
The Oles led by as many as 13 in the second half. Luther cut the lead to eight with 5:27 to play, but the Oles went on a 9-0 run over the next 4:02.
Luther shot just 25.9 percent from the field and had 14 turnovers in the first frame.
The Oles, who were 26.9 percent from the floor in the first half, finished shooting at a 40.8% clip.
Mark Bergstrom (So., Woodbury, Minn.) led the St. Olaf charge with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Jon Bain (So., Austin, Minn.) had ten of his team-high 12 points in the first half and Jon Butala (So., W. St. Paul, Minn.) had all of his ten points in the second half. Butala and Bain added eight rebounds each.
St. Olaf C., MN vs Luther College, IA 12/30/04 6:00 PM at Zorn Arena, Eau Claire, WI At Zorn Arena, Eau Claire, WI ST. OLAF C., MN 58, LUTHER COLLEGE, IA 43 ST. OLAF C., MN (6-3) Jon Bain 4-7 4-8 12; Mark Bergstrom 3-9 4-4 11; Jon Butala 4-9 1-4 10; Ted Gonsior 2-3 2-2 7; Tucker Weisman 2-7 0-0 5; Wade Pierce 2-2 1-2 5; Erik Sviggum 1-2 2-2 4; Andy Grimsrud 1-8 0-0 2; Pat Fraser 1-1 0-1 2; Chris Clark 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 14-23 58. LUTHER COLLEGE, IA (2-7) JOHNSON, Josh 4-10 0-2 8; GRIMM, Brandon 2-12 3-4 8; JOHNSON, Matt 3-10 0-0 7; BRANTNER, Tony 3-7 0-0 6; DEVINE, Drew 2-3 1-3 5; RUMP, Andy 1-6 0-0 3; LAKE, Eric 1-3 0-1 2; LOWE, Erik 1-6 0-0 2; DALRYMPLE, Clint 1-3 0-0 2; BILDSTEIN, Austin 0-1 0-0 0; TUCKER, Zac 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-62 4-10 43. St. Olaf C., MN............... 20 38 - 58 Luther College, IA............ 16 27 - 43 3-point goals-St. Olaf C., MN 4-10 (Mark Bergstrom 1-1; Tucker Weisman 1-6; Ted Gonsior 1-1; Jon Butala 1-1; Andy Grimsrud 0-1), Luther College, IA 3-24 (JOHNSON, Matt 1-4; RUMP, Andy 1-5; GRIMM, Brandon 1-6; LOWE, Erik 0-3; BILDSTEIN, Austin 0-1; TUCKER, Zac 0-1; JOHNSON, Josh 0-4). Fouled out--St. Olaf C., MN-None, Luther College, IA-DEVINE, Drew. Rebounds-St. Olaf C., MN 41 (Jon Bain 9; Mark Bergstrom 9), Luther College, IA 39 (JOHNSON, Josh 6). Assists-St. Olaf C., MN 10 (Jon Bain 4), Luther College, IA 9 (GRIMM, Brandon 4). Total fouls-St. Olaf C., MN 13, Luther College, IA 17. A-300 36th Annual EC Holiday Classic. 3rd Place Game. STO matches a season-opening OT win over LUTH (75-69) with the win. STO never trailed in a game tied twice. STO scored the first 8 pts of the 2nd half. LUTH got no closer than 6 after. STO led by as many as 17 (56-39 at 2:07).