The Knights (17-5, 14-3 MIAC) kept pace with fellow conference leader St. Thomas, which defeated St. Olaf College, 76-56.
The Scots (7-15, 6-11 MIAC) were paced by Tom Conboy's 19 points and 11 rebounds. Macalester led nearly the entire second half but had three straight turnovers in the final two minutes. Conboy had a contested look from 10 feet in the final seconds and Jesse Hollander's put-back was just short at the horn, as the Scots lost another close game in MIAC play.
Tommy Drake had 11 points and 10 rebounds and hit a huge 3-pointer and tip-in to tie the game with less than five minutes left after the Scots had led 54-49 with less than six minutes left. Dan Forkrud added 13 points, five steals, four rebounds and three assists while Zach Johnson added 11 points and seven rebounds.
Brendan Bosman added 13 points and six rebounds for the Scots and Hollander added 10 points and six rebounds.
The Knights took their largest lead of the game, 25-17, on a Philips trey with five minutes left in the first half, but the Scots used a 10-2 spurt to tie the game a the half and continued on the spurt, making it a 22-8 string spanning halftime to take a 39-33 lead as Conboy and Hollander drained triples and Bosman scored twice to open the second half.
The Knights pulled within two on three occasions and finally caught the Scots at 54-54 with less than five minutes left after Drake drilled a three and tipped in a Johnson miss, but Conboy and Hollander scored inside, pushing the Scots back in front by four. Johnson answered with a three, which was countered by a Brian Ranwick deep three-pointer. Phillips drained his own three and Forkrud came up with a steal with a minute left, leading to his free throw to tie the game at 61-61. Another Forkrud steal led to a foul on the other end as Phillips drove in and drew the contact, making one of two with 14 seconds left for the final margin.
The Knights shot 41 percent to the Scots’ 43 percent. Macalester held a 39-27 rebounding edge, but only 15-12 in second-chance points, but the difference was in turnovers. The Scots turned the ball over 18 times to nine for the Knights, leading to a Carleton 25-10 spread in points off turnovers.
The Knights are off this Wednesday, but continue on the three-game home stand by hosting rival St. Olaf College on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 3:15 p.m. The game can be heard live locally on KQCL 95.9 FM and worldwide on Knights Online. The Scots host St. John’s on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Macalester College vs Carleton College 02/06/06 7:30 p.m. at Northfield, Minn. (West Gym) At Northfield, Minn. (West Gym) CARLETON COLLEGE 62, MACALESTER COLLEGE 61 MACALESTER COLLEGE (7-15, 6-11 MIAC) Tom Conboy 7-17 2-2 19; Brendan Bosman 5-9 2-2 13; Jesse Hollander 4-8 0-0 10; Nate Assel 3-6 0-0 8; Brian Ranwick 2-6 0-0 6; Andy Stein 1-3 1-1 3; T. Robinson-Wilson 1-2 0-0 2; Lars Johnson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-53 5-5 61. CARLETON COLLEGE (17-5, 14-3 MIAC) Jake Phillips 7-16 1-2 20; Dan Forkrud 6-16 1-2 13; Tommy Drake 5-10 0-0 11; Zach Johnson 4-11 2-3 11; Brian Sharkey 1-2 0-0 3; Bobby Schmitz 1-1 0-0 2; Jay Melson 0-3 2-2 2; Tucker Schieck 0-0 0-0 0; Mike Kootsikas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 6-9 62. Macalester College............ 27 34 - 61 Carleton College.............. 27 35 - 62 3-point goals-Macalester College 10-24 (Tom Conboy 3-7; Brian Ranwick 2-5; Nate Assel 2-4; Jesse Hollander 2-4; Brendan Bosman 1-2; Lars Johnson 0-2), Carleton College 8-21 (Jake Phillips 5-12; Zach Johnson 1-3; Tommy Drake 1-2; Brian Sharkey 1-2; Dan Forkrud 0-2). Fouled out--Macalester College-None, Carleton College-None. Rebounds-Macalester College 39 (Tom Conboy 11), Carleton College 27 (Tommy Drake 10). Assists-Macalester College 13 (Tom Conboy 3; Lars Johnson 3), Carleton College 12 (Dan Forkrud 3; Jake Phillips 3). Total fouls-Macalester College 15, Carleton College 8. A-600