ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Carleton College men's basketball team roared back once again in the second half, this time downing Macalester College, 63-60. The Knights (6-2, 2-1 MIAC) have now come back from deficits of eight points or greater to win four times this year.
 
Carleton concluded the game shooting 46.4 percent from the floor and just 3-for-8 (37.5 percent) from three, doing most of its damage on the inside to the tune of 42 paint points.
 
Macalester (2-9, 0-3 MIAC) finished at 37.7 percent from the field but had stark splits. Carleton's defense tightened up in the second half, as the Scots hit nearly 50 percent of their shots in the first half but dropped to 28 percent in the second. The same trend held true from 3-point range, as the home team went 6-for-9 from deep during the opening stanza and cooled to 3-for-14 (21.4 percent) in the second half to wind up at 9-for-23 (39.1 percent) overall in the game.
 
Luke Harris notched the game's opening bucket, but Macalester quickly posted an 8-0 run with the help of a pair of Ryan Brush triples. Carleton got back in the good books with an 11-0 run of its own, leading 13-8 at the 12:29 mark after a Sam Koelling and-one. The two teams traded blows until Scots guard Kaden Holdbrook caught fire at the end of the half, shooting 3-of-4 from three and posting 17 points in the opening frame. A strong finish put the hosts up 36-29 at the break.
 
The Knights quickly closed the gap at the start of the second half, and Matt Drake hit a tough runner at 8:19 to give the Knights a 50-49 edge, their first lead in 20 minutes of game time. The Carleton defense kept the Scots at bay, and Spencer Goetz canned a big-time 16-footer with 22 seconds remaining to put Carleton up 61-57.
 
Brush hit a triple on the next possession to bring the Scots back within one, and Josh Engelberg was fouled and sent to the line for two big free throws. The first-year hit both of his tries to put Carleton up by three, and then defended Holdbrook's late heave to wrap up a sixth Knights victory in seven games.
 
Harris led the Knights with 19 points and seven rebounds. He was joined in double figures by Drake with 13 points while Koelling and Engelberg added 10 apiece. Goetz had a team-high three assists and six steals, with the steals number setting a new career high and tying for the most by a MIAC player this year.
 
Holdbrook finished with 26 points and seven boards. Brush registered 12 points for the Scots, and Eric Wentz's 11 points rounded out double-figure scorers for Macalester.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton plays at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul on Saturday, Dec. 14. Tip-off at the Eagles' Ericksen Center set for 3:00 p.m. That will be the Knights' final game before a 16-day break from competition due to the holidays.