NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Matt Drake tallied 24 points, Sam Koelling scored 22 more, and the Carleton College men's basketball team maintained possession of the Goat Trophy with a wire-to-wire 80-68 win at rival St. Olaf College.
Carleton (15-10, 11-5 MIAC) has maintained a hold on the traveling Goat Trophy since wresting it away from the Oles (15-10, 11-5 MIAC) in 2020. The Knights have beaten St. Olaf in each of their last six trips to the Skoglund Center.
The result of this game along with others across the conference moved Carleton into a four-way tie for second place in the standings with St. Olaf, Saint John's, and Concordia College-Moorhead.
Drake's 24 points came on 10-for-16 shooting from the floor, and the sophomore hit 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Koelling was even more efficient, making 9-of-13 shots while contributing seven rebounds and a pair of steals. Josh Engelberg scored 14 points, notched two steals, and came down with a career-high nine rebounds. Patrick Smith posted nine points and a game-best four assists. Omar Kaba swatted three shots in a commanding defensive performance to tie his career best.
Tobias Averill scored the game's first points with a turnaround jumper, and the Knights got off to a 10-4 lead after four minutes. St. Olaf scored six unanswered to tie the game 10-all with 12:54 remaining in the half, but that was the final time the score would be even.
The Knights made five of their next six attempts for an 11-3 run, leading 21-13 with 9:07 remaining in the first half. A Smith 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down and an Engelberg steal-and-score put Carleton up 30-18 a little over three minutes later. The Oles whittled the margin down to six points with 1:25 to go before intermission, but a conventional three-point play by Drake and a Koelling 3-pointer sent the Knights into halftime leading 37-25.
After the Oles opened the second half's scoring, Carleton hit its next four shots, including a momentum-swinging Koelling dunk, for an 11-4 jaunt that put the maize and blue ahead 45-29 with 16:55 remaining.
The hosts could not make any headway, with the Knights matching each bucket over the middle portion of the frame and eventually opening up a 23-point lead at 68-45 following another Koelling triple with 7:47 still on the clock.
The Oles outscored the Knights 23-12 over the waning minutes, but Carleton held on with ease for a victory.
Carleton scorched the nets with a 54.7 percent shooting mark, its best performance from the field since Dec. 20 against Williams. The Knights made 7-of-17 attempts (41.2 percent) from 3-point range and 15-of-20 free throws (75.0 percent). The visitors amassed 13 team assists to just seven turnovers, their second-best ratio of the campaign.
St. Olaf was limited to 39.3 percent shooting in the first half but rebounded late to finish with a 45.9 percent shooting mark overall. The Oles made just 5-of-20 shots from deep (25.0 percent) and 50.0 percent of their free throws (7-for-14). St. Olaf was able to narrowly win on the glass, recording 34 rebounds to Carleton's 33.
St. Olaf had two double-digit scorers: AJ Uhl put together a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double with two blocks and Kobe Kirk scored 17 points.
Due to tiebreakers, Carleton has been awarded the No. 5 seed in the MIAC Playoffs, and begins its playoff run on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at the No. 4-seeded Concordia-Moorhead. That contest will tip off at 7:00 p.m.