DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – While the weather was warm, the shooting was cool for the Carleton College men's basketball team as the Knights shot only 32 percent overall in starting their time at the Daytona Beach Shootout with a 77-64 loss to Grove City (Penn.) College.
 
Josh Engelberg paced the Knights (6-4) with 19 points, while Matt Drake added 17, and Sam Koelling chipped in 10 of his own.
 
Carleton shot only 24 percent (6-of-25) in the first half and trailed 33-23 at intermission. The Knights improved to a 40 percent clip (10-of-25) in the second stanza but still finished the day just 3-of-20 (15 percent) beyond the arc. One consolation was a 29-of-33 (87.9 percent) performance at the charity stripe, the most made free throws for Carleton since converting 30 against Saint John's in the MIAC Playoffs Championship on Feb. 26, 2023.
 
Against Grove City, Carleton jumped out to a 20-14 lead with six minutes remaining before halftime, but the Wolverines closed the period on a 19-3 run and carried a 10-point lead into the break. Grove City maintained at least a nine-point advantage throughout the second half despite Engelberg accounting for 15 of his 19 tallies after intermission and Drake scoring 10 of his 17 points over the final 20 minutes of play.
 
Grove City shot 42.9 percent both inside and outside the arc in addition to a 17-of-22 (77.3 percent) showing at the free-thrown line. Mike Christenson matched his season high with 26 points to lead the Wolverines, while Kyle Randle contributed in 22 points
 
Up Next for the Knights
Day two of the Daytona Beach Shootout sees Carleton face Williams College at 4:00 p.m. ET / 3:00 p.m. CT.