The loss means the Knights (10-14, 9-10 MIAC) will hit the road for the MIAC Playoff quarterfinals, as they'll be the fifth seed and play at Gustavus Adolphus College in Monday's conference tournament opener. The Gusties lost at home to St. Olaf College tonight, but the fourth tiebreaker (descending order of losses) favored the Knights, as they split with Hamline but the Oles were swept by the Pipers.
Brad Liddell paced Macalester (10-14, 7-14 MIAC) with 24 points. Tom Conboy and Jesse Hollander each posted double-doubles for the visitors, as Conboy posted 17 points and 12 rebounds and Hollander tallied 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Tommy Drake tallied 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Zach Johnson added 14 points as the Knights' three-game winning streak ended.
The game was a track meet early, with the Scots setting the early pace. The visitors scored the first 12 points of the game and led, 22-10, eight minutes into the contest. The Knights rallied behind Phillips's hot hand, as the senior drilled five three-pointers in a nine-minute spurt and the teams headed to the locker room tied at 44-44.
The Scots, though, used a 15-2 spurt out of halftime to take control of the game. They maintained a double-digit lead for much of the half until the Knights finally awoke and tried to rally. Down nine points with two minutes left, Drake hit two free throws, Mike Kootsikas drained a corner trifecta and Drake buried a deep three-pointer to leave the Knights behind, 75-74. Macalester's Abe Woldeslassie made two free throws, but Kootsikas barely missed a potential game-tying three with 23 seconds left, as did Drake after Conboy missed on the front end of a one-and-one. Conboy made two free throws with 14 seconds left and Liddell added two more after Phillips drilled a straight-on three-pointer with nine seconds left.
Carleton wraps up its home schedule by hosting Gustavus on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 3 p.m. The game can be heard and viewed worldwide on Knights Online and heard locally on KQCL 95.9 FM/Power 96.
Macalester vs Carleton College 02/14/07 5:45 p.m. at Northfield, Minn. (West Gym) At Northfield, Minn. (West Gym) MACALESTER 81, CARLETON COLLEGE 77 MACALESTER (10-14, 7-14 MIAC) Brad Liddell 7-12 5-5 24; Tom Conboy 6-12 5-9 17; Jesse Hollander 7-10 0-1 17; Abe Woldeslassie 2-8 2-4 7; Lars Johnson 2-8 0-0 5; Andy Stein 2-4 0-0 4; Paul Richie 2-5 0-0 4; Brian Ranwick 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 29-62 12-19 81. CARLETON COLLEGE (10-14, 9-10 MIAC) Jake Phillips 9-10 5-6 30; Tommy Drake 5-13 4-5 15; Zach Johnson 5-16 1-3 14; Mike Kootsikas 3-6 0-0 7; Bryan Rosett 2-4 1-2 5; Jay Melson 2-5 0-0 4; Jeremy Sutherland 1-5 0-0 2; Tucker Schieck 0-1 0-0 0; Bobby Schmitz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-60 11-16 77. Macalester.................... 44 37 - 81 Carleton College.............. 44 33 - 77 3-point goals-Macalester 11-31 (Brad Liddell 5-9; Jesse Hollander 3-5; Lars Johnson 1-7; Brian Ranwick 1-3; Abe Woldeslassie 1-6; Paul Richie 0-1), Carleton College 12-21 (Jake Phillips 7-7; Zach Johnson 3-5; Mike Kootsikas 1-3; Tommy Drake 1-5; Jay Melson 0-1). Fouled out--Macalester-None, Carleton College-None. Rebounds-Macalester 36 (Jesse Hollander 13), Carleton College 38 (Bryan Rosett 7; Tommy Drake 7). Assists-Macalester 18 (Abe Woldeslassie 5), Carleton College 16 (Tommy Drake 4). Total fouls-Macalester 15, Carleton College 18. A-300