NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Five of the seven Knights who touched the floor finished in double figures as the Carleton College men's basketball team secured a 79-68 victory over visiting Concordia College-Moorhead.
 
With the victory, Carleton (13-7, 10-5 MIAC) moved into third place in the MIAC standings as the Knights have now won 6-of their last-7 games. They improved to 8-1 at West Gym on the year and have secured victories in the first two legs of the current three-game home stand.
 
Carleton's offense put up 79 points against the top-ranked defense in the MIAC, as the Cobbers (12-8, 8-7 MIAC) had been allowing only 67.5 points on average. Matt Banovetz led the way with his 15-point effort while also tallying eight boards and five assists.
 
Luke Harris chipped in 14 points to continue his streak of recording 10 or more points in every Knights' contest this season. He hauled in five rebounds and dished out five assists as well. Spencer Goetz matched his season-high for steals in a game with four, while also putting up an efficient 13 points, along with five assists and four boards. Miles Frisch and Sam Koelling topped off the double-digit scorers, with 11 apiece. Alex Gibbens nearly joined the double-digit club as he registered nine points along with eight rebounds.
 
Concordia led 3-2 after Jacob Cook drained a 3-pointer less than 30 seconds into the contest. The Knights countered with a 9-0 run, forcing four turnovers in the three minutes, two of those being steals by Goetz. Carleton played from in front the rest of the way.
 
The Knights finished the first half up 37-22, and the difference-maker was the turnovers. Carleton's did not give the ball away once during the opening 20-minute frame while the defense forced 12 miscues by Concordia, leading to 16 points off those turnovers.
 
The Cobbers tried to rally in the second half by relying heavily on the three ball as 18-of their-30 shots during the period came from behind the arc. Concordia carved the Knights' lead down to eight at 54-46 with 9:09 still to go in the game, but they could get no closer, thanks in part to two corner 3-pointers from Chuck Sweat and a right-handed hook from Banovetz that gave the Knights some breathing room as the score sat at 66-50 with five minutes to play.
 
Matthew Johnson led the Concordia with a game-high 23 points, while Rowan Nelson finished a rebound shy of a double-double at 17 points and nine rebounds. Cook notched 14 points and eight boards.
 
Carleton shot .460 overall and was 7-of-27 (.259) beyond the arc. Concordia connected at a .415 clip while going 11-of-33 (.333) from long range.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton wraps up its home stand with a 7:00 p.m. game against Augsburg University on Monday, Feb. 5. There are five games remaining in the regular season, which concludes on Feb. 17.