DULUTH, Minn. - Jeremy Beckler notched his second consecutive double-double as the Carleton College men's basketball team picked up a 67-57 road victory against the College of St. Scholastica. The triumph gave the Knights a sweep of the season series as well as a guaranteed top-four finish in the MIAC's regular season standings, and with it not only a first-round bye in the altered MIAC playoff format for 2022 but also a home game during the quarterfinal round.
Beckler's double-double was the third of his career, as he finished with 17 points, and 10 rebounds. He added a career-high seven assists, matching the team-high this season. Luke Harris was the only other Knight to score in double figures, as he contributed 14 points to go along with eight rebounds, while Alex Battist finished a bucket and a board shy of his own double-double with eight points and nine rebounds.
The Knights (14-4, 11-3 MIAC) opened up the game looking like a team which had just come off of a more than three-hour bus ride. That, combined with the fact that the first 90 seconds of the game were played using a women's regulation basketball instead of a men's one, led to some poor shooting to open up the period.
At the 11-minute mark of the first half, Carleton held a 10-9 lead as the Knights made only 3-of-13 field goal attempts over the first nine minutes of the game, while St. Scholastica (3-17, 1-14 MIAC) went 3-for-15 over the same stretch.
The offense efficiency eventually picked up, but not by much. All told, the teams shot a combined 36.7 percent overall and a disappointing 24 percent (8-of-33) from 3-point range over the first 20 minutes.
The sides traded the lead 12 times in the period, the last coming on Alex Gibbens' second three-pointer of the day shortly before halftime, eventually allowing Carleton to possess a 31-30 edge at intermission.
The Saints scored the first five points of the second half and took their largest lead of the contest at 35-31 with 17:59 still to play. Carleton countered with a 13-4 run of its own, bolstered by three Beck Page triples, the last of which gave Carleton a 42-39 lead with 14:52 remaining. The Knights would not relinquish the lead the remainder of the contest.
While the Saints would make it interesting after pulling to within 50-48 with 7:18 showing on the scoreboard, the Carleton defense took over and yielded only a single point over the next five minutes. Meanwhile, the Knights worked the ball into the lane and opened up a double-digit lead.
Harris scored 8 of his 14 points over the final three minutes to keep Carleton in control of the contest.
It was mostly a two-man show on offense for St. Scholastica, as Quinn Fischer matched his season high of 21 points, and Nick Carlson added 15 points and 10 rebounds, including a few clutch three-pointers in the Saints' effort to come back. No other Saint had more than five points or rebounds.