NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College (7-4, 4-2 MIAC) men's basketball team opened 2024 in style, rolling to an 81-69 win over Hamline University, spurred by career-high scoring days and spectacular defensive efforts from Spencer Goetz and Sam Koelling. Not to be out-done, Matt Banovetz notched his sixth career double-double–with game highs of 20 points and 16 rebounds. Luke Harris was the fourth player in double figures for Carleton, chipping in 19 points

Goetz and Koelling tallied career highs of 14 points apiece, with the former going 7-iof-11 from the field while contributing seven boards, five assists, and four assists. The latter accounted for six boards.

Goetz limited Bradley Cimperman—Hamline's (5-6, 3-3 MIAC) leading scorer at 19.8 points per game entering this contest—to only two points on 1-of-10 shooting. Koelling held the Pipers' second-leading scorer, Austin Holt, to only nine points on 2-of-7 shooting.

Carleton shot at its third-best clip this year, hitting 46.3 percent of shots from the floor, while also going 14-of-20 from the stripe. The Knights' success was mostly on the interior, as they only shot 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from 3-point range. Carleton had a plus-eight rebound margin (39-31), with 14 of those coming off the offensive glass leading to 17 second-chance points. The Knights plundered the ball 11 times, leading to an 18-2 edge in points off turnovers.

Hamline blistered the nets from the opening tip, with Mick Wherley hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to give the visitors a 6-0 lead. Carleton answered with a 15-3 run and would not trail the remainder of the contest.

The Pipers kept it close by going 7-of-11 from deep in the opening frame, and the visitors trailed only 43-38 at intermission.

Koelling kicked off the second half with a bang, pulling down an offensive rebound and flipping up a fallaway shot through a foul, making the resulting and-one to give Carleton an eight-point lead. Goetz found a groove, scoring on three straight Knights' possessions to stretch the advantage to a game-high 13 at 56-43 with 12:25 remaining.

The Pipers stuck around, cutting their deficit to as little as six after Daniel McCarrell nailed a triple with 2:09 to go. Carleton slammed the door, however, not allowing another point over the final minutes and hitting their closing free throws to take a crucial game in MIAC play.

Hamline shot 43.9 percent overall, with an impressive 12-of-24 (50.0 percent) performance from 3-point-land. McCarrell came off the bench to lead the Pipers, scoring 19 on 7-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-3 from deep after entering the game shooting 12.5 percent from long range. Wherley had 15 points. Holt narrowly missed a double-double, finishing on nine points and 11 rebounds, with six assists.