ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Carleton College men's basketball team used an early 15-0 run to open up a lead and did not look back in notching a 65-55 victory at Bethel University. This was the Knights' fourth consecutive triumph to start 2022 and marks the 500th win in the collegiate coaching career of Knights' head coach Guy Kalland.
 
Jeremy Beckler (Jr./Lino Lakes, Minn./White Bear Lake) poured in a game-high 18 points to lead Carleton (10-3. 7-2 MIAC), while Luke Harris (Fy./Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) chipped in a 17-point effort.
 
"I'm just really thrilled with how the guys played tonight," Kalland said. "On both ends of the floor, they were ready and played extremely well. It's a nice MIAC road win.
 
"And yes. I was aware at the end of the game that that was our 500th win. It's especially meaningful when something like this is shared with so many tremendous Carleton basketball players and assistant coaches, wonderful Carleton families, and my own terrific family."
 
Kalland, in his 38th year at the helm of the Carleton program, now owns a 500-435 (.535) coaching record. He is 1 of only 5 men's basketball coaches to win at least 500 games at any one Minnesota NCAA school (all of them were coaches at MIAC schools) and is the second active coach in the conference to reach that milestone (Mark Hanson of Gustavus Adolphus now sits at 525-305).
 
500+ men's basketball wins at a single Minnesota NCAA college
W-L Record     Coach, School, Years
786-556           Jim Smith, Saint John's, 1964-2015 (51 seasons)
592-248           Steve Fritz, St. Thomas, 1980-2011 (31 seasons)
591-207           Joe Hutton, Hamline, 1931-1965 (34 seasons)
525-305           Mark Hanson**, Gustavus, 1990-present (33rd season at Gustavus)
500-435           Guy Kalland**, Carleton, 1984-present (38th season at Carleton)
**active coach
 
Kalland becomes the 60th active men's basketball coach across all three NCAA divisions to win at least 500 career games, and he is the 14th active Division III coach to do so. All-time, total of 218 men's basketball coaches across all three divisions have won at least 500 NCAA games. Santa Clara head coach Herb Sendek could add his name to that list later tonight (the Broncos have a game at Pacific University).
 
Interestingly, two days after defeating Hamline—coached by Jim Hayes, who spent seven seasons as an assistant coach for Kalland—the Knights knocked off Bethel—coach by Zach Filzen, who is the son of Carleton women's basketball coach Tammy Metcalf-Filzen.
 
Defense has been the foundation of Kalland's coaching career, and not surprisingly, tonight saw another stout defensive effort from his squad as the Knights held Bethel (7-5, 4-4 MIAC) to 15 points below its season average.
 
Carleton made 37.3 percent of its field-goal attempts and was 6-of-27 (22.2 percent) from beyond the arc, while Bethel converted 40.7 percent of its shots overall and was 4-of-19 (21.1 percent) from long range.
 
With the shooting numbers so similar, it was turnovers that provided the difference. Carleton committed only seven turnovers while forcing the Royals into 15 miscues, leading to the Knights' 20-7 edge in points off turnovers. The Knights were also credited with six blocked shots.
 
Carleton trailed 9-5 before John Carragher's (So./Glencoe, Ill./New Trier) layup at the 11:36 mark of first half sparked the Knights on a 15-0 run and a 25-8 finish to the period. Becker had 12 of the Knights' first 20 points in the contest, and Harris drained back-to-back 3-pointers in the final minute of the half to stretch the Carleton lead to 30-17 at intermission.
 
The second half saw the Knights extend the advantage to 45-25 after a pair of Alex Battist (Sr./Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) free throws with 12:42 still to play.
 
Bethel slowly chipped away at the deficit but got no closer than 64-55 with 19 seconds remaining. All nine Knights that played in this one scored during the second half.
 
Carragher and Battist chipped in seven points apiece, with the former adding three steals while the latter also secured eight rebounds, three blocked shots, two steals and two assists.
 
Myles Coleman paced Bethel with 14 points, 12 of them in the second half. Zach Doely added a double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds), while Isaiah Rollins also reached double figures (10 points).
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton makes the short trek across the Cannon River to face rival St. Olaf College at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 15. Fans hoping to go cheer on the Knights in person should be aware that St. Olaf has instituted spectator limits (including proof of vaccination status). More information can be found on the St. Olaf website.
 
NOTE: Kalland has already surpassed the combined total (498 wins) of the next three coaches on the Carleton program leaderboard: Jack Thurnblad (243 from 1960-1984), Mel Taube (133 from 1950-60), and Marshall Diebold (122 from 1930-42).