Tommy Drake led all scorers with 19 points for the Knights (1-4, 1-1 MIAC), who trailed by 10 in the early going but scored the first 16 points of the second half to open a 39-28 five minutes into the second half. Bryan Rosett added nine points and 10 rebounds and Mike Kootsikas tallied eight points, three assists and two rebounds.
Mike Moberg paced Bethel (5-2, 1-2 MIAC) with 16 points and seven rebounds, including a pair of three-pointers that pulled Bethel, which came in averaging nearly 95 points per game, pulled within four points with four minutes left. Charles Meadowcroft added 12 points and eight rebounds and Tim Madson tallied 11 points, five rebounds and four assists.
The Knights fell behind 14-4 as they missed on their first 10 shots and had two turnovers in the game's first six minutes. The visitors used a quick 8-0 spurt to pull within one, but Bethel held a 28-23 advantage at the break.
The second half was a different story. The Knights forced four turnovers and five missed Bethel shots in the first five minutes. Offensively Carleton was hitting on all cylinders, knocking down 5-of-8 shots to start the period, including back-to-back triples to start the half by Phillips. The Knights led 39-28, but Bethel closed the gap to five, but the Knights bumped the lead back to 13 on a 13-5 run. The lead grew to as many as 15, but Bethel used a 13-2 run to close within four, 56-52, at the four-minute mark.
Drake and Phillips answered with back-to-back baskets, but the Royals had the ball down by three with less than two minutes left, but Madson missed on a three and Rosett scored inside and Drake blocked Laugen's shot with 40 seconds left. Phillips made four straight free throws to secure the win.
Neither team shot the ball particularly well, as the Knights were 18-for-49 (36.7 percent) and the Royals were 20-for-56 (35.7 percent). Bethel canned 10-of-27 from three-point range compared to 6-of-19, but Carleton made 33 trips to the foul line, converting 24, to Bethel's 12-of-15 free-throw performance.
Carleton College vs Bethel University 12/06/06 5:45 PM at Robertson Center At Robertson Center CARLETON COLLEGE 66, BETHEL UNIVERSITY 62 CARLETON COLLEGE (1-4, 1-1 MIAC) Tommy Drake 7-12 3-4 19; Jake Phillips 5-9 4-4 18; Bryan Rosett 3-11 3-4 9; Mike Kootsikas 0-1 8-10 8; Jeremy Sutherland 2-5 2-3 6; Zach Johnson 1-10 2-6 4; Jay Melson 0-1 2-2 2; Tucker Schieck 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-49 24-33 66. BETHEL UNIVERSITY (5-2, 1-2 MIAC) Mike Moberg 6-13 2-2 16; Charles Meadowcroft 5-10 0-0 12; Tim Madson 3-11 2-2 11; Cory Laugen 1-7 7-9 9; Chris Vavra 3-8 0-0 8; Steve Strom 1-2 1-2 3; Nick Jerry 1-2 0-0 3; Dean Erickson 0-0 0-0 0; Jeff Reck 0-1 0-0 0; Wade Blazejak 0-2 0-0 0; Andy Cook 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-56 12-15 62. Carleton College.............. 23 43 - 66 Bethel University............. 28 34 - 62 3-point goals-Carleton College 6-19 (Jake Phillips 4-8; Tommy Drake 2-3; Mike Kootsikas 0-1; Zach Johnson 0-4; Bryan Rosett 0-3), Bethel University 10-27 (Tim Madson 3-6; Chris Vavra 2-5; Charles Meadowcroft 2-5; Mike Moberg 2-3; Nick Jerry 1-2; Jeff Reck 0-1; Wade Blazejak 0-1; Cory Laugen 0-4). Fouled out--Carleton College-None, Bethel University-Chris Vavra. Rebounds-Carleton College 37 (Bryan Rosett 10), Bethel University 37 (Charles Meadowcroft 8). Assists-Carleton College 11 (Jake Phillips 7), Bethel University 14 (Tim Madson 4). Total fouls-Carleton College 14, Bethel University 24. A-478