NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College men's basketball team opened 2024 in style, rolling to an 81-69 win over Hamline University, spurred by career-high scoring days and spectacular defensive efforts from Spencer Goetz and Sam Koelling.
 
Not to be out-done, Matt Banovetz notched his sixth career double-double–with game highs of 20 points and 16 rebounds. Luke Harris was the fourth player in double figures for Carleton (7-4, 4-2 MIAC), chipping in 19 points
 
Goetz and Koelling tallied career highs of 14 points apiece, with the former going 7-iof-11 from the field while contributing seven boards, five assists, and four assists. The latter accounted for six boards.
 
Goetz limited Bradley Cimperman—Hamline's (5-6, 3-3 MIAC) leading scorer at 19.8 points per game entering this contest—to only two points on 1-of-10 shooting. Koelling held the Pipers' second-leading scorer, Austin Holt, to only nine points on 2-of-7 shooting.
 
Carleton shot at its third-best clip this year, hitting 46.3 percent of shots from the floor, while also going 14-of-20 from the stripe. The Knights' success was mostly on the interior, as they only shot 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from 3-point range. Carleton had a plus-eight rebound margin (39-31), with 14 of those coming off the offensive glass leading to 17 second-chance points. The Knights plundered the ball 11 times, leading to an 18-2 edge in points off turnovers.
 
Hamline blistered the nets from the opening tip, with Mick Wherley hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to give the visitors a 6-0 lead. Carleton answered with a 15-3 run and would not trail the remainder of the contest.
 
The Pipers kept it close by going 7-of-11 from deep in the opening frame, and the visitors trailed only 43-38 at intermission.
 
Koelling kicked off the second half with a bang, pulling down an offensive rebound and flipping up a fallaway shot through a foul, making the resulting and-one to give Carleton an eight-point lead. Goetz found a groove, scoring on three straight Knights' possessions to stretch the advantage to a game-high 13 at 56-43 with 12:25 remaining.
 
The Pipers stuck around, cutting their deficit to as little as six after Daniel McCarrell nailed a triple with 2:09 to go. Carleton slammed the door, however, not allowing another point over the final minutes and hitting their closing free throws to take a crucial game in MIAC play.
 
Hamline shot 43.9 percent overall, with an impressive 12-of-24 (50.0 percent) performance from 3-point-land. McCarrell came off the bench to lead the Pipers, scoring 19 on 7-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-3 from deep after entering the game shooting 12.5 percent from long range. Wherley had 15 points. Holt narrowly missed a double-double, finishing on nine points and 11 rebounds, with six assists.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton makes the drive to Concordia College-Moorhead on Saturday, Jan. 6 to begin a three-game road swing with a 3:00 pm. tipoff at Memorial Auditorium.