DULUTH, Minn. - Beck Page shot the lights out of Reif Gymnasium and netted a career-best 27 points as the Carleton College men's basketball team wrapped up its regular season with a 90-70 result at the College of St. Scholastica. The triumph was the 22nd of the season for the Knights, setting a new program record.
Carleton (22-3, 17-3 MIAC) quickly got out to its largest lead of the first half after a Matt Wyffels' triple set the score at 16-7 with 13:11 still to play in the frame. St. Scholastica (7-18, 6-14 MIAC) clawed back to tie the game at 20-20 with 8:38 remaining before intermission. The next stretch saw the lead swing back-and-forth with five ties, the latest of which was at 37-37 with a minute to play in the period. The last two buckets of the half were both 3-pointers from Page, and the Knights led 43-37 at the break.
Page and the Knights continued their hot shooting in the second half. The Saints cut the visitors' lead to 48-46 with nearly 17 minutes still to play, but Carleton answered with a 10-0 run capped by back-to-back triples for Page. Carleton maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
Page finished with 27 points—his third game of at least 20 points this season—and was 7-for-11 from 3-point range, marking the fourth time a Knight has made seven triples in a game this season. It is also the second such performance for Page this year, and third of his career.
As a team, Carleton made 17 shots from beyond the arc, good for the fourth most in program history.
Matt Banovetz, Jeremy Beckler, and Luke Harris all joined Page in double figures with 14, 13, and 10 points respectively. Each had at least five rebounds and four assists, while Banovetz also registered a pair of steals.
Nick Carlson and Noah Winesett paced the home team with 14 points apiece as they were the only Saints in double digits.
Carleton shot 50.0 percent overall and 45.9 percent from long range. St. Scholastica connected at a 42.6 percent clip but was only 7-of-27 (25.9 percent) beyond the arc. The Knights grabbed 12 offensive rebounds leading to a 22-5 advantage in second-chance points.
The Knights have now won 22 games, which is the most in program history, one more than the 2005-06 squad. Carleton's 17-3 record in MIAC games tied the team standard for victories in conference games.
Carleton, which clinched the MIAC regular-season title a week ago, will be the top seed in next week's conference tournament.