The Knights (3-5) trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half and by seven with less than 10 minutes left, but Johnson scored six points in a four-minute stretch to bring the hosts within one and his spinning jumper with 59 seconds left staked the Knights to a 58-57 lead. Chris Ask drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key with 30 seconds left, but Brian Rosett scored inside with 15 seconds left to force overtime.
Phillips drilled a three-pointer on Carleton's first touch of the extra session and converted a back-door, reverse lay-up to push the Knights in front, 65-62, two minutes into overtime. Johnson's jumper bumped the lead to five and the Knights made 8-of-10 free throws in the final 90 seconds, including four by Phillips, to secure a key regional win.
Joe Werner paced the Eagles (6-3) with 14 points and nine rebounds and TJ Nereng nailed a trio of three-pointers to net 13 off the bench. Ask added 12 points, five rebounds and four assists, Chris Fehrenbach tallied 11 points and Brandon Brown was also in double figures with 10 points. The Eagles entered the game ranked 21st in the latest D3Hoops.com poll.
UW-La Crosse controlled the game from the opening moments, building an eight-point cushion midway through the half and then moving the margin into double digits as the visitors shot 52 percent from the floor and held Carleton to 36 percent.
The second half was a different story, though, as Johnson carded 15 points in the half on 6-of-9 shooting while his counterpart, Werner, was limited to four points on only 2-of-6 shooting. The Knights, though, trailed by five with five minutes left, but Phillips drilled a triple and then hit Tommy Drake for an inside basket that tied the game with 3:24 left, setting up the exciting final moments.
Drake added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Knights, who are now off until Dec. 30 when they travel to Minnesota State-Mankato.
UW-La Crosse vs Carleton College 12/13/06 7:30 p.m. at Northfield, Minn. (West Gym) At Northfield, Minn. (West Gym) CARLETON COLLEGE 75, UW-LA CROSSE 64 UW-LA CROSSE (6-3) Werner, Joe 7-13 0-0 14; Nereng, TJ 4-6 2-2 13; Ask, Chris 5-15 1-2 12; Fehrenbach, Chris 3-6 3-4 11; Brown, Brandon 5-8 0-0 10; Kegler, Billy 2-2 0-0 4; Wilcox, Derek 0-1 0-0 0; Fredrick, Nick 0-2 0-0 0; Effenheim, Scot 0-0 0-0 0; Scott, Austin 0-0 0-0 0; Borchard, Dan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-53 6-8 64. CARLETON COLLEGE (3-5) Zach Johnson 10-18 8-10 28; Jake Phillips 5-12 4-4 18; Tommy Drake 4-8 1-2 11; Bryan Rosett 3-7 3-4 9; Jeremy Sutherland 2-3 0-0 4; Tucker Schieck 1-3 1-2 3; Mike Kootsikas 1-4 0-0 2; Jay Melson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-56 17-22 75. UW-La Crosse.................. 33 27 4 - 64 Carleton College.............. 24 36 15 - 75 3-point goals-UW-La Crosse 6-14 (Nereng, TJ 3-4; Fehrenbach, Chris 2-5; Ask, Chris 1-5), Carleton College 6-18 (Jake Phillips 4-9; Tommy Drake 2-4; Mike Kootsikas 0-2; Zach Johnson 0-3). Fouled out--UW-La Crosse-None, Carleton College-None. Rebounds-UW-La Crosse 26 (Werner, Joe 9), Carleton College 34 (Bryan Rosett 8). Assists-UW-La Crosse 15 (Brown, Brandon 5), Carleton College 14 (Mike Kootsikas 5). Total fouls-UW-La Crosse 19, Carleton College 11. UW-La Crosse ranked 21st in latest D3Hoops.com poll