NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Six players finished in double figures—including double-doubles for Tobias Averill and Sam Koelling—but the Carleton College men's basketball team lost the season opener to the University of Puget Sound, 86-85. The Knights (0-1) rocketed to a 55-31 halftime lead, but Loggers (1-0) reeled the game back in the second half to eke out the victory.
 
Carleton, whose 14-man roster includes eight first-years and two sophomores that missed their rookies seasons due to injury, started the 2024-25 season with a bang, racing to a 13-3 lead through five minutes with eight points from junior Gabriel Cummings. The Knights continued to light up the scoreboard, with highlights including an and-one for rookie Matt Drake and threes on back-to-back possessions for Koelling. The Knights shot a blistering 7-for-12 (58 percent) from range in the first half, including a deep buzzer-beating trey from Josh Engelberg to put the hosts up 24 at the break.
 
Koelling's 3-pointer with 17:44 remaining gave Carleton its largest lead at 63-34, but soon after Puget Sound sprung to life and ripped off a 13-0 run to ignite the comeback. Six of the nine Knights that appeared in the contest were making their first collegiate appearance, and that inexperience came to the fore in the second half, as the Loggers continued to chip away, dwindling a massive lead into single digits with eight minutes to go.
 
Liam Ruttledge hit a couple big threes for the visitors, and a 6-0 spurt finishing with a layup from Taj Phillips gave Puget Sound an 82-81 lead with 20 seconds to go, the visitors first lead since the 18:28 mark of the first half.
 
The teams traded trips to the foul line, and the Loggers now led 84-82. Phillips missed both ends of his double-bonus try with 0:05 on the clock, but Zane Miller grabbed a massive offensive board, forcing another foul from the Knights. Ruttledge made both of his tries from the stripe to put the Loggers up four and ice the game. Engleberg nailed a halfcourt heave as time expired for his second buzzer-beater of his first career game, but less fanfare followed this one, as the Knights still fell by a point.
 
Carleton finished the game at 47.4 percent from the floor (27-for-57), and 50.0 percent (10-for-20) from three. The Knights shot 14-of-15 from the line in the first half, but a poor second half meant they finished at 21-for-31 (67.7 percent) overall. The Loggers used a lights-out second half to finish at 49.2 percent shooting overall (32-for-65), and 30.4 percent from range (7-of-23). Puget Sound also won the rebound battle, 37-34. Overall, the Loggers held the lead for just 33 seconds in the game, but it was enough.
 
Luke Harris finished with a game-high 21 points to pace the Knights. Koelling posted his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Averill contributed 13 points and 10 boards. Drake added 14 points and a team-high four assists, Engelberg had 11 points on perfect 4-of-4 shooting and two steals, and Cummings tallied 10 points.
 
Four Loggers had double-digit points, as Liam Ruttledge led with 19. Dezman Baker scored all 15 of his points in the second half. Miller finished with 14 points, and Phillips had 13 points and eight assists.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton looks to bounce back with another non-conference clash against North Central University on Tuesday, Nov. 12. Tipoff at Clark-Danielson Gymnasium is set for 7:00 P.M.