NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College men's basketball team pulled away in the second half of its game against the College of St. Scholastica and claimed a 68-51 victory over College of St. Scholastica. It was the Knights' third victory of the week.
 
Carleton (5-3, 3-2 MIAC) shot 44.8 percent from the floor and hit 34.8 percent (8-of-23) of its 3-point tries. Three Knights scored in double figures on the day. Matt Banovetz netted 16 points—all in the second half—as well as notching three steals and two blocks. Alex Gibbens put 12 points on the board, and Luke Harris nearly had a double-double, scoring 10 and grabbing a season-high nine rebounds. Spencer Goetz led the way on the glass, pulling down 10 boards, 5 of which came on the offensive side.
 
The Knights were plagued by turnovers during the first half, giving up the ball 10 times in the period and ending the game with a season-high 16 miscues. Those extra possessions led to St. Scholastica (1-7, 0-5 MIAC) holding the lead for much of the opening frame.
 
The Saints built their largest lead of the contest at 24-18 with 7:04 still to play before intermission. Carleton responded with a 9-0 run as Harris hit three layups before Miles Frisch came off the bench to nail a triple that gave the Knights their first lead of the contest at 27-24 with 2:43 remaining in the first half. Carleton eventually took a 30-25 advantage into the break.
 
The hosts never trailed during the second half but held a slight 43-41 advantage after Saint's Tanner Thomson scored a second-chance bucket with 8:33 left on the clock.
 
On the next trip down the floor, Gabriel Cummings drained a long pull-up jumper, sparking the Knights to a 25-4 run over the next seven minutes. Gibbens had 10 points during this stretch, and Banovetz added a trio of 3-pointers to put the game beyond reach.
 
Carleton eventually eased to a 17-point victory.
 
St. Scholastica had three players in double figures, with Thomson scoring 14 points off the bench, while starters Noah Winesett and Matho Ojullu both netting 13 points. Saints' forward Kevin Thomas led all players with 11 rebounds. The visitors shot 33.3 percent from the floor and were only 5-of-28 (17.2 percent) from long range in addition to a 2-of-8 showing at the charity stripe.
 
Up Next for the Knights:
Carleton welcomes a non-conference opponent to West Gym on Wednesday, Dec. 13, as the University of Northwestern-St. Paul visits for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff.