Video of game-winning shot
NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Down by four points with 0:06 remaining and needing to go the length of the floor, the Carleton College men's basketball team came back to defeat visiting Hamline University, 79-78, at the buzzer.
Matt Wyffels' only field-goal of the evening was a game-winning 3-pointer as time expired in the Knights' home opener.
"An improbable win to say the least," said Carleton head coach
Ryan Kershaw. "Our guys never let go of the rope and stayed in there and found a way to get it done, despite it looking very bleak near the end. Hamline played outstanding and was more than deserving to win the game. They are an extremely well coached team, and they played terrific tonight. We had a number of different guys step up when we needed them to throughout the game, and I'm thrilled for
Matt Wyffels that we were all able to celebrate him in the manner in which we did tonight."
This marked the second time this season that Carleton (6-1, 3-1 MIAC) erased a double-digit second-half deficit en route to victory. On Nov. 26, the Knights battled back from down 19 against Carroll to win 79-72. This time the dug out of an 11-point hole.
Several things broke the Knights' way in the closing moments.
Hamline (5-2, 3-1 MIAC) led 76-71 with 14 seconds remaining but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 situation. After the Pipers used one of the two fouls they had to give,
Jeremy Beckler was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer. He stepped to the line and drained all three free throws.
Carleton sent Bradley Cimperman to the free-throw line at the other end, and he scored both points to push the Pipers' lead to 78-74 with only six seconds left.
Luke Harris raced up the court and was fouled on his shot attempt from beyond the arc with 3.1 ticks still on the clock. The sophomore guard hit the first two free throws but was called for a lane violation on his deliberate miss of the third charity shot.
Hamline's inbound pass went awry, giving Carleton one final opportunity with 1.7 seconds to play. The Knights were out of timeouts, but
Chuck Sweat found Wyffels' on the left wing for the game winner.
Beckler led Carleton with 27 points, giving him at least 25 points in four of the last five games. Harris finished with 18 points, including 11 in the second half.
Matt Banovetz and
Alex Gibbens chipped in nine and six points, respectively.
The Knights shot 52 percent in the first half but faced a 46-40 deficit at intermission as Hamline shot 61 percent during the opening 20 minutes, including 8-of-15 from beyond the arc.
The Pipers maintained a 57-47 lead with 14:00 remaining, but the next two minutes saw the Carleton reserves put together an 8-0 run that injected life into the West Gym faithful. Sweat sparked the rally with a tip-in off a missed 3-pointer. Soon after he drained a 3-pointer, and
Miles Frisch capped the run with a triple of his own make it a two-point game. It stayed a two-possession game the rest of the way.
Beckler (8 points), Harris (6), and Wyffels (5) accounted for Carleton's final 19 points of the game. That trio was responsible for the Knights going 16-for-16 at the charity stripe on the evening.
Carleton got contributions from players up and down the roster with the Knight bench outscoring its counterparts 19-0 overall thanks to five 3-pointers, including two by
Gabriel Cummings.
Daniel McCarrell did all he could to lift Hamline to the victory, hitting on 5-of-10 shots from beyond the arc as he poured in a game-high 28 points. Cimperman added 24 points, and Austin Holt posted a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Carleton shot 43 percent overall and was just 9-of-30 from long distance. Hamline finished at 52 percent overall but was only 1-of-8 from 3-point range in the second half.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton hosts College of St. Scholastica for a 1:00 p.m. tipoff on Saturday, Dec. 10. That will be the opener of a men's-women's doubleheader
.
