NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Jeremy Beckler (Jr./Lino Lakes, Minn./White Bear Lake) scored all of his team-high 21 points in the second half and Matt Banovetz (So./Edina, Minn./Academy of Holy Angels) came off the bench to add a double-double—11 points, 11 rebounds—as the Carleton College men's basketball team earned a 68-64 triumph over visiting Gustavus Adolphus College.
 
"A great team win tonight," said Carleton head coach Guy Kalalnd. "It was the kind of game we thought it would be, and our guys were ready for the challenge. We came up with just enough stops on the defensive end down the stretch to pull out a very nice MIAC win."
 
Beck Page (Jr./Longmont, Colo./Longmont) drained a 3-pointer at the 9:05-mark of the first half to give Carleton (4-1, 2-0 MIAC) a 20-12 lead, the largest margin for either squad on the evening. Gustavus (3-4, 1-2 MIAC) answered with a 19-4 run over the six-plus minutes to open up a 31-24 advantage of its own.
 
The Knights then closed the first half on a mini 9-2 spurt to carry the squads into intermission knotted at 33-33.
 
Gustavus scored the first seven points of the second half to match its largest lead of the evening and still held a 44-41 lead with 11:36 remaining. Beckler scored 15 of the Knights' next 17 points over an eight-minute span to keep Carleton in the game. The back-and-forth contest featured three ties and 14 lead changes in the second half alone.
 
The Gusties' Adam Biewen converted a traditional three-point play to inch the visitors back in front at 62-61 with 1:56 left to play, but Page answered with a pair of free throws on the next Carleton possession.
 
After the visitors re-gained yet another one-point lead, Beckler drained a fadeaway jumper with 51 seconds on the clock to push Carleton ahead for good. After a pair of defensive stops the Knights iced the game with a trio of free throws in the closing seconds.
 
The Gusties shot 51 percent overall but were only 6-of-18 (33 %) from beyond the arc and 6-of-10 at the charity stripe. Carleton made only 41 percent of its shots overall but shot 43 percent (6-of-14) from 3-point range and made 14-of-21 shots at the free throw line.
 
Banovetz continued his strong play off the bench, scoring seven points in eight minutes of action in the first half, then adding four points and six rebounds after intermission. He had four of Carleton's 10 offensive rebounds.
 
Alex Gibbens (So./New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) was the third Knight in double figures, adding 15 points and a pair of steals.
 
Kaleb Feahn had a game-high 24 points to pace Gustavus, which also saw a 12-point performance by Spencer Swanson and an 11-point effort from Peter Lundquist.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton hits the road to face Augsburg University for a scheduled 3:00 p.m. tipoff on Saturday, Dec. 4.