DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – All five starters reached double figures in a back-and-forth affair, but a potential last-second, game-tying shot was no good for the Carleton College men's basketball team, which lost 73-71 to Williams College in the conclusion of the Knights' time at the Daytona Beach Shootout.
 
Omar Kaba scored the game's opening bucket, kick-starting a 13-0 run for Carleton (6-5) to begin the action, featuring five points from the rookie big man and five more from Tobias Averill. The Ephs (8-2) immediately roared back with a 16-2 run of their own, taking a 16-15 lead at 11:51 in the opening half. The streaky start continued - the Knights scored eight straight for a 23-16 edge, but Williams reeled it back to 23-23 at 7:16 with seven unanswered.
 
Williams outscored Carleton 16-10 over the final seven minutes of the frame. The Knights committed five turnovers in that span, putting them down 39-33 at the break despite shooting 61 percent from the field over the front 20 minutes..
 
Matt Drake canned a short jumper to open the second half, but the Ephs ripped off an 11-0 run to gain a 50-35 lead at 16:23. Seven different Knights scored points over the next seven minutes to drag the maize and blue back to within a score as Williams held a slim 56-53 advantage with 8:32 to go.
 
Carleton kept chipping away, and Josh Engelberg hit a fadeaway in the paint with 6:41 remaining to give Carleton its first lead of the half at 60-59. The two squads traded blows over the next couple minutes, exchanging the lead seven times. The game was within one point either way for four minutes until a pair of Aidan Yates free throws put Williams up 69-66 with 2:06 remaining.
 
The Ephs hit two more from the stripe, and then Averill and Hudson Hansen traded layups. Drake then converted a layup through a foul and hit the extra free throw to make the score 73-71 in favor of Williams with 25 seconds remaining. A Carleton foul sent the Ephs back to the line but Sammy Cooley missed both free throws. Unfortunately, a last-second shot that would have tied the game would not fall for Carleton.
 
Drake and Engelberg tied for the game high with 14 points apiece. Engelberg tallied seven rebounds and three assists. Kaba made his first collegiate start count, tallying 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Averill posted 12 points, and Sam Koelling rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points, nine rebounds, and three assists.
 
Yates and EJ Sommers scored 13 points apiece for Williams. Hansen with 12 points and Cooley with 10 rounded out the double-figure scorers.
 
Carleton converted 55.4 percent of its shots overall and 43.8 percent (7-for-16) from 3-point range. Williams shot 44.3 percent from the floor, and 22.6 percent (7-for-31) from outside.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton returns to the to the Midwest and concludes the 2025 portion of its calendar with a road contest at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 30.