NEW ULM, Minn. -- Two days after the Carleton College men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season, the Knights got back in the win column with a 99-77 triumph at Martin Luther College. Matt Banovetz (Jr./Minneapolis, Minn./Academy of Holy Angels) poured in a career-high 25 points, including a 5-for-9 showing from 3-point range and collected 10 rebounds in posting his third career double-double.
 
The 99 points were the most scored by Carleton (5-1) represent the highest total by a MIAC team this season and it marks the most by the Knights since they prevailed 103-100 at Trinity University (TX) on Nov. 27, 2021.
 
Jeremy Beckler (Sr./Lino Lakes, Minn./White Bear Lake) added a game-high 26 points for the Knights, his third game of at least 20 points this season and the 18th such effort of his career.
 
Meanwhile, Miles Frisch (Jr./Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) came off the bench to contribute a career-best 10 points. He did not miss a shot, going 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. The Carleton (5-1) reserves out-scored their counterparts from Martin Luther (0-8) by a 37-12 margin.
 
"A nice bounce-back road win tonight," said Carleton head coach Ryan Kershaw. "We're still not where we'd like to be, or need to be, defensively at this point in the season, but we did a nice job on the offensive end overall.
 
"We all were left with a bad taste in our mouth after our performance on Saturday, so it was nice to be able to get right back out on the court tonight. And it will be really nice to get out on our home floor for the first time this season against a really strong Hamline team on Wednesday night."
 
Carleton started fast, making 8-of-its first-10 shots from the field, but the Knights trailed 23-19 with 12:51 remaining in the first half as Martin Luther hit 4-of its first-6 shots from beyond the arc. The hosts were unable to maintain that pace the remainder of the contest and made only 3-of their final-18 attempts from 3-point land.
 
Carleton closed the first half on a 22-9 run and shot 63 percent for the period to open up a 53-40 lead by intermission. Beckler carried the bulk of the load early, scoring 18 points over the first 20 minutes.
 
The Knights cooled a bit after the break, shooting 47 percent for the period. That figure included a 10-of-20 showing from 3-point range, with Banovetz going 4-for-6 from downtown as part of his 18-point second half.
 
The Knights widened their lead to 76-54 with 12:20 still to play before Martin Luther responded with a 12-2 burst over the next four minutes. Carleton's advantage was too large, however, and the visitors slowly pushed the margin back out to 22 when Frank Sheffield (Jr./Washington, DC/Sandy Spring Friends) connected on his first career bucket with 59 seconds remaining. He was 1 of 7 Knights with a 3-pointer in this contest as Carleton finished with a season-best 15 triples.
 
Seth Veers tallied a team-high 23 points to pace three Martin Luther players in double figures.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will hold its home opener on Wednesday, Dec. 7 as Hamline University visits West Gym for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff.