NORTHFIELD, Minn. - The Carleton College men's basketball team avenged an early-season loss to Saint Mary's University and split the season series with a 65-63 home victory, thanks to a pair of free throws from Beck Page with only 1.6 seconds remaining on the clock.
"I thought today was our best defensive performance of the season from start to finish," said head coach Ryan Kershaw. "Saint Mary's presents a number of challenges based on their personnel and the offensive scheme they run. Our guys were up to the challenge and did an excellent job executing our game plan defensively for the majority of the game. All in all, it was a great team win and I am really proud of our players for staying together for the full 40 minutes and for finding a way to win down the stretch."
The Knights (16-3, 11-3 MIAC) came into the game with the best record in the conference, while the opposing Cardinals (11-7, 7-6 MIAC) had won 9-of-10 games and had the MIAC's leading scorer in Raheem Anthony. Anthony was coming off 41-point performance a week prior in a close win against Concordia-Moorhead, and the Knights knew they would have their hands full keeping him contained.
Luke Harris helped the Knights stay ahead early in the first half. Carleton's point guard scored 10 of his 16 points during a three-minute stretch, the last of which was a free throw which gave the home team a six-point lead with 12:26 on the clock. That advantage was short-lived, as the Cardinals had an answer any time the Knights appeared to claim momentum. Saint Mary's trailed by only a single point, 30-29, at intermission, even though Harris matched Anthony's 12 first-half points.
Carleton leaned heavily on its big men both inside and out in the second half. Jeremy Beckler and Matt Banovetz combined for 19 points in the final 20 minutes, while Anthony and Breyton Buysman contributed 11 apiece in that same span for the visitors. Despite that, Carleton's depth outscored that of the Cardinals, and the lead got as large as 11 at 58-47 with 7:13 to play.
Owen Ziegler, the top 3-point shooter in the MIAC entering play, sparked a 13-2 run with his second 3-pointer of the day. Banovetz answered with a layup and the foul against Anthony, and while chasing for a rebound the MIAC's leading scorer committed his fifth personal foul with 2:11 to play. Cameron Mallory came in off the bench for Anthony and nailed a three to again tie things up at 63-63 with 1:31 to go.
Both teams had multiple chances to take the lead, but none were successful until the final moments. The Knights took a timeout with 4.8 seconds left and drew a play up for Page, who drove to the paint and earned a foul, sending him to the line with 1.6 seconds to go. The Knights' 3-point specialist had only attempted seven free throws all season, but swished both at the charity stripe for the win.
Banovetz matched Harris' 16 points for Carleton, but Harris also paced the home team with seven rebounds and six assists. Beckler and Page added eight points each.
Anthony led all scorers and rebounders with 23 and 9, respectively, but the Knights strong defense, led by Spencer Goetz and Alex Gibbens, forced Anthony into five turnovers. Buysman was the only other Cardinal in double figures as he totaled 18 points and matched Anthony on the boards. The Knights limited Ziegler, who had been shooting .500 from beyond the arc this season to a 2-of-6 showing from long range.