NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's basketball team could not overcome a lengthy first-half drought in a 68-63 loss to crosstown-rival Carleton College in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play on Saturday afternoon at Skoglund Center.

St. Olaf (2-16, 1-8 MIAC) made eight of its first 11 three-pointers on its way to a 35-21 lead with under seven minutes to go in the first half before going scoreless for over nine minutes of game time as Carleton (12-6, 5-4 MIAC) scored 21 consecutive points. After trailing by as many as 11 in the second half, the Oles got within two on three occasions but could not get over the hump.

First year Liam Roche came off the bench to knock down all five of his three-pointers as part of a season-high 21-point performance. Roche was 7-for-9 from the field overall and grabbed six rebounds while blowing past his previous season high of 10 points. Junior Kobe Kirk and senior Addison Metcalf were also in double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Carleton had a balanced offensive attack with five double-digit scorers in the win. Matt Drake led the Knights with 13 points, Sam Koelling had 13, Josh Engelberg added 11, and Luke Harris and Spencer Goetz chipped in with 10 apiece. Drake, Koelling, and Goetz all pulled down seven rebounds apiece, as Carleton held a 41-33 advantage on the glass thanks, in part, to 14 offensive rebounds.

After Carleton opened the scoring, St. Olaf went on an 8-0 run over a 59-second span to surge out to the lead behind three-pointers from Kirk and Metcalf. The Oles led 12-10 six minutes in before making five consecutive three-pointers as part of an extended 23-11 run that culminated in a three-pointer by first year Luther Tostrud with 6:41 to go in the opening half that gave St. Olaf its largest lead of the game at 35-21.

Kirk scored all 13 of his points in the first 10:07 to help the Oles to the double-digit cushion, but Carleton closed the first half on a 14-0 run after Tostrud's three-pointer to pull even at 35-35 at the break. St. Olaf led for 17:55 and trailed for just 1:26 in the first half despite Carleton shooting 48.1 percent (13-for-27) compared to 40.6 percent (13-for-32) for the Oles.

The Knights carried their run over into the second half, scoring the first seven points to claim a 42-35 lead with 17:39 to go. Metcalf broke a scoring drought of 9:24 for St. Olaf with a layup on the ensuing possession, but Carleton answered with a 6-0 spurt to go up by 11.

Roche scored five points during a 7-0 St. Olaf run midway through the half that got Carleton's lead down to two and hit his fifth three-pointer of the afternoon with 4:47 to go to keep the Oles within three. First year Rex Lamb cut the Knights' lead in half with a three-pointer of his own with 2:37 on the clock to make it a 63-60 game, but Carleton got a pair of offensive rebounds and a layup on the next possession and back-to-back stops after that to close out the win.

The Oles will be back at Skoglund Center to face nationally-ranked Saint John's University, which is riding an 11-game winning streak, on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m.