NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College men's basketball team closed the game on a 16-2 run, turning an eight-point deficit into an 87-81 victory over University of Northwestern-St. Paul. Matt Banovetz, Luke Harris, and Alex Gibbens paced the Knights with 26, 22, and 20 points, respectively. This marked the sixth time in the last 19 years that a trio of Carleton players scored at least 20 points in the same game (see chart below).
 
In addition to matching his career-high point total, Banovetz tacked on nine rebounds and four steals, the most swipes by any Knight this year. Harris notched his sixth game this season with more than 20 points and tallied seven rebounds along with three assists, while Gibbens dished out three helpers in addition to his season-high scoring total.
 
Northwestern (7-3) shot 53.1 percent overall as a team and was 13-of-19 from 3-point range before missing its final four shots from long range and finishing the game 13-of-23 (56.5 percent) beyond the arc.
 
Carleton (6-3) made only 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) from 3-point range during the first half but was 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) from deep after intermission and finished 11-of-35 (31.4 percent) overall. The Knights shot 42.2 percent from the field overall and were 22-of-26 at the charity stripe while keeping the Eagles off the free throw line all evening.
 
Carleton started the contest strong and worked its way to a 20-12 lead at the 13:14 mark of the first half with Gibbens, Banovetz, and Harris accounting for all 20 points. After that point, Northwestern began scorching the nets, and Carleton cooled off. The Eagles shot 7-of-10 from beyond the arc during the first half, and the Knights suffered a 4-of-21 slump from the floor over the final 13 minutes, resulting in Northwestern leading 43-35 at halftime.
 
The Eagles started the second half with another triple from Micah Pocernich, pushing the lead to a game-high 11 points. Carleton responded with a 12-0 burst. The Knights started by pilfering the ball on consecutive possessions and scoring on the resulting fast breaks. Soon after, Banovetz and Harris hit back-to-back triples to give Carleton a 47-46 lead with 15:30 still to play.
 
The two sides stuck close after that. Carleton's points came from all over, but Northwestern was led by a massive run from sophomore guard Japheth Nyamari, who scored 17 of his game-high points in the second half, draining multiple shots from well beyond the 3-point line.
 
Carleton trailed 79-71 with 3:30 remaining before making its final five field-goal attempts. Banovetz started the game-changing run with a 3-pointer. After Northwestern scored a layup, Gibbens knocked down a 3-pointer and Harris converted an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the deficit to 81-80. Gibbens then drained consecutive pull-up jumpers to give the Knights the lead, and Gibbens and Banovetz iced the game at the free throw line.
 
Jeremiah Lavelle notched 18 points and eight rebounds for the Eagles, who received 10-point efforts from Pocernich and Caleb Hoilien.
 
Up Next for the Knights:
Carleton concludes the 2023 portion of its campaign by visiting Bethany Lutheran College on Friday, Dec. 15. Tipoff at North Gym in Mankato, Minn. is scheduled for 6:00 PM.

Carleton 20-20-20 games since start of 2005-06
• 2/9/13 at Macalester (W, 84-71) — Tom Sawatzke (26), Shane McSparron (22), Scott Theisen (21)
• 12/9/17 at Macalester (W, 101-76) — Kent Hanson (30), Matt Stritzel (27), Kevin Grow (20)
• 12/11/19 at Concordia (W, 78-55) — Jeremy Beckler (27), Alex Battist (20, Kent Hanson (20)
• 12/19/19 vs. Finlandia (W, 98-79) — Jeremy Beckler (23), Kent Hanson (21), Isaac Tessier (20)
• 2/19/20 vs. Hamline (W, 88-78) — Kent Hanson (33), Alex Battist (21), Jeremy Beckler (20)
• 12/13/23 vs. Northwestern-St. Paul (W, 87-81) — Matt Banovetz (25), Luke Harris (22), Alex Gibbens (20)