NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Five Knights finished in double figures as the Carleton College men's basketball team completed a season series sweep of rival St. Olaf College after securing a 68-63 road victory on Saturday.
 
Matt Drake paced the Knights (12-6, 5-4 MIAC) with 13 points, Sam Koelling chipped in 12 points, Josh Engelberg contributed 11 points off the bench, and seniors Luke Harris and Spencer Goetz accounted for 10 points apiece. Carleton, which had already secured possession of the Goat Trophy with its win over St. Olaf (2-16, 1-8 MIAC) earlier this month, trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half.
 
"I'm really pleased with the result and our collective response after not getting off to the start that we had hoped for," said Carleton head coach Ryan Kershaw. "We played with a little more urgency defensively during the last six minutes of the first half and were able to sustain a solid level of play through most of the second half."
 
The Northfield rivals stayed close early, but then St. Olaf got red-hot from deep, draining 8-of its first-11 attempts from 3-point range to earn a 35-21 lead with 6:24 to play before break.
 
The Knights called a timeout to regroup, and the two team's fortunes switched.
 
The Knights responded with a 14-0 run to close the opening half, tying the game at 35-35 when Tysen Hayes hit a triple with 21 seconds left on the clock.
 
Out of the locker room, the Knights picked up where they left off. Koelling began the second half with a 3-pointer, and Carleton started the second half with a 13-2 burst. All told, the 27-2 surge covered nearly 12 minutes of action. During that stretch, the Carleton defense held to Oles to a 1-for-17 shooting drought.
 
The Knights now led 48-37 with 14:29 to play, but the Oles did not roll over, answering with a 10-1 run of their own to make it a one-score contest at 49-47 midway through the period.
 
The Northfield rivals continued to trade blows, and it was a one-possession game before Koelling put back in off his own miss, pushing Carleton back to a 65-60 lead a the two-minute mark. With 35.9 seconds left, Goetz sank two free throws to give the Knights a 67-60 cushion, and Carleton was able to secure its fifth consecutive victory in the series.
 
Goetz, Koelling, and Drake each had seven boards to lead Carleton, which shot 42.1 percent as a team, including 6-of-15 (40 percent) from deep, and 14-of-20 (70 percent) at the line.
 
Oles' leading scorer this season, Kobe Kirk, had averaged better than 27 points per game over his last three contests against Carleton and started this game off with 13 points over the first 10:07 but was held scoreless the rest of the way. In his absence, Liam Roche stepped up, coming off the bench to score a career-best 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including a flawless 5-of-5 from behind the arc.
 
After their 8-of-11 start from range, the Oles were only 3-of-18 from deep the rest of the way and finished at 37.9 percent from 3-point range and 39 percent overall.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton travels to Duluth for its next contest, taking on the College of Saint Scholastica on Wednesday, Jan. 29. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.