ARDEN HILLS, Minn. -- Luke Harris (So./Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) poured in a career-best and game-high 24 points as the Carleton College men's basketball team dug out of an early hole and picked up an 84-77 victory over Bethel University in the Knights' season opener. This was also the first triumph in head coach Ryan Kershaw's tenure.
 
"Very nice road win for our team to start the season," said Kershaw. "We wanted to end the night 1-0 in the conference, and we were able to make just enough plays to make that happen. I thought the last five minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second half were crucial. Overall, I'm really proud of our group, and now the guys can focus on their fall term finals before we head to Colorado next week."
 
Bethel (0-3, 0-1 MIAC) was ready to play spoiler to Kershaw's coaching debut as the Royals raced out to an early 9-0 lead by draining a trio of 3-pointers to start the contest
 
It was a still an eight-point Royal lead midway through the opening stanza before Carleton (1-0, 1-0 MIAC) newcomer Chuck Sweat (Jr./Glencoe, Ill./New Trier) and his high school teammate John Carragher (Jr./Glencoe, Ill./New Trier) connected on back-to-back triples to pull the Knights within 21-19.
 
The hosts widened their lead back out to 37-30 with 2:21 remaining in the first half, but Carleton put together an 11-0 run that gave the Knights their first lead of the contest. The spurt was sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers by Sweat and capped by a traditional three-point play by Jeremy Beckler (Sr./Lino Lakes, Minn./White Bear Lake).
 
A Bethel bucket shortly before halftime sent the teams to intermission with Carleton holding a 41-39 lead. The Royals shot 57 percent in the first half, including 7-of-12 from beyond the arc. However, Sweat did his best to keep the Knights in the game, as he came off the bench and scored all of his career high-tying 12 points in the first half by going 4-of-5 from downtown.
 
Carleton played from in front the entire second half. The lead widened as large as 14 on multiple occasions, the last coming at the 3:04 mark. Bethel responded with a 9-0 run to pull within 78-73 with 0:56 still on the clock, but Harris and Alex Gibbens (Jr./New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) combined to convert all six of their free throws in the final minute to close out the game.
 
Beckler, the Knights' leading scorer last season was only 1-of-5 in the first half but went 5-for-7 after the break to score 15 of his 18 points overall. Harris notched 14 of his 24 points in the second half and added seven rebounds. Gibbens finished with 14 points, becoming the fourth Knight in double figures. Spencer Goetz (So./Chaska, Minn./Chaska) contributed a career-high six assists.
 
Carleton shot 52 percent overall, including 56 percent after halftime. After connecting at a 57 percent clip in the first half, Bethel shot 39 percent after the break.
 
Tommy Jensen paced Bethel with 18 points, while Zach Doely had 16 points and Caden Boettcher added 14 points off the bench.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo. for the Rocky Mountain Thanksgiving Classic. The Knights face Whitworth University on Friday, Nov. 25 at 7:30 PM MT/8:30 PM CT. The following evening, Carleton will face either Carroll University or host Colorado College,