The Oles trailed most of the second half but never let the game get out of reach, eventually tying it at 66, sending them to an overtime period.
St. Olaf tied the game with 2:50 left to go in overtime off a no-look pass from Andy Grimsrud to Wade Pierce, who finished the play underneath the basket with a reverse layup. The Oles would go up two a minute later on a wide-open layup by Grimsrud assisted by Erik Sviggum. St. Olaf did not allow a point in the last four minutes of overtime, holding on for the win.
The story of the first half for St. Olaf was Grimsrud who caught fire ten minutes into the game and stayed hot for the remainder. His 11 first-half points kept the Oles in the game, and he finished with a game-high 23, two of those coming in overtime.
St. Olaf center Jon Bain had a strong second half with ten points and an assist to Pat Fraser with 45 seconds left in overtime to put the Oles up four.
"In the first game, you don't know what to expect," said St. Olaf head coach Kosmoski. "It's nice to see your veteran players step up, we were very poised."
The St. Olaf defense forced 16 turnovers in the game, and had 14 of their own, but only five in the first half which helped keep the score close.
With the non-conference win, the Oles start the season 1-0, and Luther's record now slides to 0-2.
St. Olaf plays at home against Saturday, Nov. 27 against Crown College.
11/23/04 7:00 at Skoglund Center At Skoglund Center STO 75, LUTM 69 LUTM (0-1) GRIMM, Brandon 5-9 5-6 19; RUMP, Andy 4-12 0-0 11; BRANTNER, Tony 3-10 5-7 11; LOWE, Erik 5-11 0-0 11; JOHNSON, Josh 3-5 1-3 8; DEVINE, Drew 2-5 0-0 4; NEHMAN, Nick 0-3 2-2 2; DALRYMPLE, Clint 0-1 2-2 2; JOHNSON, Matt 0-4 1-2 1; LAKE, Eric 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-61 16-22 69. STO (0-0) Andy Grimsrud 9-16 3-4 23; Jon Butala 7-13 1-2 17; Wade Pierce 4-11 4-4 12; Jon Bain 4-13 3-8 11; Pat Fraser 2-3 0-0 4; Ted Gonsior 1-3 0-0 3; Mark Bergstrom 1-6 0-0 2; Will Johnson 1-3 0-0 2; Erik Sviggum 0-3 1-2 1; Chris Clark 0-1 0-0 0; Bobby Hunter 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-74 12-20 75. LUTM.......................... 34 32 3 - 69 STO........................... 32 34 9 - 75 3-point goals-LUTM 9-20 (GRIMM, Brandon 4-5; RUMP, Andy 3-9; LOWE, Erik 1-3; JOHNSON, Josh 1-2; JOHNSON, Matt 0-1), STO 5-15 (Andy Grimsrud 2-6; Jon Butala 2-4; Ted Gonsior 1-2; Mark Bergstrom 0-1; Will Johnson 0-1; Erik Sviggum 0-1). Fouled out--LUTM-None, STO-None. Rebounds-LUTM 45 (BRANTNER, Tony 10), STO 43 (Wade Pierce 10). Assists-LUTM 17 (JOHNSON, Matt 6), STO 13 (Ted Gonsior 4). Total fouls-LUTM 23, STO 18. A-651