NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's basketball team held a halftime lead before going cold in the second half of a 66-57 non-conference loss to crosstown-rival Carleton College on Monday evening at West Gym.

St. Olaf (1-11) led for over 11 minutes in the opening half and was up 33-31 at the break before Carleton (8-4) outscored the Oles by a 35-24 margin in the second half. The game was a rare non-conference contest between the two Northfield rivals being scheduled to play just once with the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) moving to 16 conference games instead of 20.

Junior Kobe Kirk scored 10 of his team-high 15 points in the first half for St. Olaf, which shot just 31.7 percent (20-for-63) from the field and 25.9 percent (7-for-27) from three-point range in the loss. First year AJ Uhl had 11 points and six rebounds, senior Addison Metcalf recorded 10 points and five boards, and sophomore Jachin Mertes contributed eight points and a game-high nine rebounds. On a night where the held a 47-36 advantage on the glass, the Oles grabbed 18 offensive rebounds but could only turn them into nine points.

Luke Harris and Sam Koelling combined to score 42 of Carleton's 66 points in the win, with Harris scoring 24 on 7-for-15 shooting from the field and 9-for-12 shooting at the free-throw line. Kolling was 7-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-5 from behind the arc, on his way to 18 points and seven rebounds. No other Knight had more than eight points on the night.

St. Olaf started the game on a 7-0 run over the first 2:57 before Koelling got Carleton on the board with a three-pointer. The Oles held their largest lead of the night at 11-3 inside the first four minutes after a fastbreak layup by Mertes promoted a timeout by the Knights. After the timeout, Carleton held St. Olaf to five points over the first nine-plus minutes to take a 21-16 lead with 7:26 in the half.

Three-pointers by Kirk and Metcalf plus a three-point play by Kirk got the Oles within a point with four minutes left in the half before four consecutive points from Uhl put St. Olaf up 33-30 two minutes later. The Oles went into the locker room up 33-31 behind Kirk's 10-point half, while Koelling was 3-for-4 from three-point range early for the Knights in a 12-point first half.

After being held to six points in the first half, Harris got going with 18 second-half points thanks largely to going 8-for-10 at the free-throw line in the half. St. Olaf got a three-point play from Metcalf 1:38 into the half to take a four-point lead before Carleton went on a 13-0 run over a four-minute stretch to take the lead for good.

St. Olaf trailed by as many as 10 midway through the half before getting back-to-back three-pointers from first year Jaxon Strinmoen and Kirk to cut its deficit to 55-51 with 8:35 to play. The Knights held the Oles to just six points after Kirk's three-pointer to ensure that the Goat remains at West Gym.

Next up for the Oles is a trip to the College of St. Scholastica on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 5:30 p.m.