EAU CLAIRE, Wisc. – The Carleton College men's basketball team played yet another nail biter, this time falling on a closing-seconds shot at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, with a final score of 76-73.
This was the ninth time in the season's first 10 games that the final score was six points or less, with five of those contests being one-possession battles.
Against a UW-Eau Claire (8-3) team receiving votes in the most recent D3hoops.com national poll, Carleton (7-3) hit 45.6 percent of its shots from the floor, but struggled to a 30.0 percent mark from 3-point range (6-for-20). The Blugolds notched a 54.9 percent shooting mark for the game, knocking down 47.4 percent of their triples (9-for-19), including a 5-for-6 showing from deep in the second half. The Knights won the rebound battle, 31-29, including 11 offensive rebounds. Carleton swiped nine steals, tying a season high.
UW-Eau Claire's Carter Huschka stole the ball on the game-opening possession and threw down a transition dunk, but it did not turn into momentum for the Blugolds, who played behind the Knights for three-quarters of the opening frame. The first half was tight, however, as neither side held a lead of more than two scores.
Spencer Goetz netted seven straight points for Carleton to open up the Knights' largest first-half advantage, 24-18 at the 7:13 mark. UW-Eau Claire snatched back the lead five minutes later, but
Sam Koelling answered instantly with a 3-pointer from the wing to return the edge to the Knights at 29-27. Carleton led 34-30 at halftime.
Luke Harris tallied the Knights' first three buckets of the second half, putting Carleton up by seven for the first time with 16:15 remaining. UW-Eau Claire would not allow that for long, stringing together baskets to take a 47-45 lead at the 13:36 mark. From there, the meat of the second half consisted of the two teams trading body blows, as neither squad authored a "run" of more than five points for a 10-minute period.
The Blugolds finally strung some tallies together around the two-minute mark, taking advantage of three Carleton fouls to score seven straight points and go up 73-70 with 1:46 to go. Carleton rookie
Matt Drake nailed a crucial triple, his third in four minutes, with 29 seconds left to tie the game at 73-73.
UW-Eau Claire salvaged a broken play on the penultimate possession for a game-winner. The Knights swallowed up the ballhandler, but he was able flip it to Michael Casper who knocked down a three from the logo with 1.4 seconds on the clock. A desperation play for Carleton ended in the potential game-tying 3-pointer clanking off the iron.
Harris finished with a game-leading 25 points and three steals, with 16 of those points coming in the second half. This was his seventh game of the season with 20 or more points. Koelling neared a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds, adding a block and a steal. Drake tallied 13 points, going 3-for-4 from range. Goetz contributed nine points.
Huschka finished with a team-high 18 points for the Blugolds, adding six rebounds and three steals. Casper hit 5-of-8 three-point attempts in the game to end on 15 points. Andre Renta scored 13 points for the hosts.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton rings in the new year with a MIAC contest against Augsburg University on Saturday, Jan. 4 at home. The matchup tips off at 1:00 p.m. as the opener of a men's-women's doubleheader.
