NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Scott Theisen (Jr./Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park) had 20 points to lead all scorers, and the Carleton College men's basketball team (3-1, 2-0 MIAC) ran its win streak to four games with a 71-54 victory over Saint John's University.
Theisen recorded his second 20-point game of the season by going 8-of-12 from the field. He also dished out a team-best six assists and matched his career high with six steals. Tom Sawatzke (Jr./Monticello, Minn./Monticello) added 14 points to the Carleton effort.
Just like they did in Wednesday's conference opener, the Knights never trailed and raced to a large first-half lead. This afternoon, Carleton gradually built a 30-7 advantage with 5:57 remaining in the first half. The Knights carried a 42-16 advantage into intermission and extended the margin to as many as 30 points early in the second half en route to their fifth straight win in the series.
Carleton shot 63.0 percent from the floor in the first half. The Knights slowed down a little in the second half but still managed to finish at a 56.3-percent clip for the contest. That strong offensive work was coupled with another solid defensive effort as the Knights held Saint John's to just 22.2 percent shooting in the first half and 35.2 percent overall.
Carleton posts Taylor Hanson (So./Saint Paul, Minn./Minnehaha Academy) and Caleb Rosenow (Sr./Red Wing, Minn./Red Wing) each notched eight points and pulled down eight rebounds. The duo combined for six assists, four steals, and three blocks.
Seth Marx paced the Johnnies (2-3, 0-2 MIAC) with 19 points. Saint John's top two scorers, Aaron Barmore (11.5 ppg) and Andy Burns (11.0 ppg) were held scoreless in the first half and finished with just 8 and 6 points respectively.
"I thought we set a most-impressive tempo in the first half,"said Carleton head coach Guy Kalland. "I'm very impressed with our first half at both ends of floor, very efficient and good energy. The guys worked hard for a nice win over a quality opponent
"We'll try to sustain what we're doing at the defensive end of the floor. That's no small reason why we are where we are today."
Carleton travels to St. Peter, Minn. to face Gustavus Adolphus College on Monday, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m. that game can be heard live on KDHL 920AM in the Northfield/Faribault area and worldwide via Knights Online.