NORTHFIELD, Minn. - Riding a seven-game winning streak stretch back more than a month, the Carleton College men's basketball team fell for the second straight year at home to St. Olaf College. Despite a late comeback effort by the Knights, the Oles held on for the 82-74 victory.
 
Carleton (11-2, 6-2 MIAC) came into play alone at the top of the conference standings, but crosstown rival St. Olaf (8-5, 4-4 MIAC) were eager to put the Goat Trophy into contention for the second matchup between the teams later in the season.
 
The Oles started the game as well as they could, jumping out to a 9-0 lead. The Knights  cut the visitors' lead down to 9-7 and eight minutes in had claimed a 15-14 lead. That, however, would be the best the Knights would look until late in the second half, as the Oles, led by 11 first-half points by Michael Meriggioli, would take an 11-point lead into the halftime locker room, with the score sitting at 40-29.
 
The Ole lead grew as large as 17 points at 46-29 early in the second half before the Knights slowly chipped away at the deficit. A Jeremy Beckler (Sr./Lino Lakes, Minn./White Bear Lake) steal and breakaway dunk got Carleton's leading scorer up to 20 points in the contest and cut the St. Olaf lead to eight with 2:07 to play. Luke Harris (So./Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) converted a fast break layup to Carleton within 71-65 with 2:03 to play. That was the closest the hosts would get, however, as Connor Martin and company converted 9-of-12 free throws down the stretch to keep the game out of reach.
 
Chuck Sweat (Jr./Glencoe, Ill./New Trier) had arguably his best game in a Knights uniform. The transfer from Swarthmore College went 5-of-6 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc to tally 13 points, while also leading the Knights with eight rebounds. Beckler had a pair of steals to go along with his 20 points and four helpers, while Harris and Alex Gibbens (Jr./New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) added 14 apiece in the scoring column.

Martin paced four Oles in double figures, finishing with a game-high 21 points. Nathan Hendler contributed a double-double, talling 16 ponts and 10 boards, while Meriggioli and Kobe Kirk added 14 points each. St. Olaf shot 53.4 percent overall.
 
The Goat Trophy will be up for grabs when the Knights travel to St. Olaf on Monday, Jan 30. Carleton claimed the Goat in the 2019-20 season with a sweep of the Oles. The teams split in 2021-22 after no MIAC games were played the previous season.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton hosts Macalester College for a men's and women's doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 14. The men's game will tip off the afternoon at 1:00 p.m.