COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Luke Harris poured in a season-high 32 points, but the Carleton College men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought battle at No. 23-ranked Saint John's University 72-66, snapping the Knights' five game-win streak
 
The host Johnnies (6-2, 2-0 MIAC) went 10-of-31 (32.3 percent) from beyond the arc, while Carleton (5-2, 1-1 MIAC) made 4-of-13 attempts from long range. Those extra six points proved to be the difference as the evenly-matched teams both made 26 field goals and 10 free throws in a contest that witnessed eight lead changes and 11 ties.
 
"It was the type of battle we anticipated it would be tonight," said Carleton head coach Ryan Kershaw. "I thought we were as good defensively in this game as we've been all season. Credit Saint John's for making a few critical plays on both ends of the floor in the last five minutes to help them come out on top. While the outcome is disappointing, there were certainly a number of positives that we can take with us as we move forward."
 
In a back-and-forth defensive first half, the Johnnies opened the scoring with a right-winged triple. Sparked by two consecutive buckets from Matt Drake, the Knights countered with an 11-2 run to take an 11-5 lead, their largest advantage of the contest. Later, a 10-2 spurt by the Johnnies gave Saint John's its biggest lead of the opening frame at 23-18 with 6:00 left before before halftime. Carleton closed the period with a 16-9 run, and the Knights headed into the locker room with a two-point cushion at 34-32. Harris had 13 first-half points to lead the Knights' offense, while Ryan Thissen tallied 14 early points to pace Saint John's.
 
The first five minutes of second-half action saw five ties before the Johnnies connected on back-to-back 3-pointers by Griffin Rushin and Kyle Johnson to hand them a 49-45 lead with 14:05 remaining. The advantage was short lived, as bucket for Sam Koelling and a triple by Harris gave the Knights a 50-49 lead just 74 seconds later.
 
Carleton led 58-54 after a Harris layup at the 8:16 mark, but Saint John's responded with a 13-2 run over the next five minutes, giving the Johnnies their largest lead of the contest.
 
Drake hit a pair of free throws, and Harris added another 3-pointer to bring the Knights within 67-65 with 2:25 still to play.
 
After trading turnovers, the Johnnies found themselves with possession with 96 seconds to play, and Thissen sank a layup out a timeout to double the home team's lead. The Knights missed their final three field-goal attempts. Saint John's made three late free throws to seal the win.
 
This was Harris' fourth career 30-point game, three of which have come in the last three meetings with the Johnnies (see chart below). He ended up one point shy of his career best established during last season's MIAC semifinals vs. Gustavus Adolphus. Today, he was 11-of-22 from the field, including a season-best 3-of-4 from deep. He scored 19 points during the second half and added five rebounds, two assists, and two steals to the stat sheet.
 
Drake was the only other Knight with double-figure scoring with 15. As a team, the Knights shot 26-of-58 (44.8 percent) overall and went 10-of-16 (62.5 percent) from the line.
 
Thissen led Saint John's in scoring with 22 on 8-of-12 shooting. The Johnnies ended the contest 26-of-56 (46.4 percent) from the field and 10-of-13 (76.9 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton's second of four consecutive road games comes on Wednesday, Dec. 11 with a 5:30 p.m. tip-off at Macalester College.
 
Luke Harris' 30-point games
Pts.  --   opponent  --  date
33  --  vs. Gustavus Adolphus (2OT)  --  2/22/24
32  --  at Saint John's  --  12/7/24
31  --  vs. Saint John's  --  11/21/23
30  --  at Saint John's  --  1/24/24