<s of the Carleton College basketball team were recognized when the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its season-ending basketball award winners. Senior Caleb Rosenow and junior Tom Sawatzke were both named to the All-MIAC first team.
Scott Theisen ‘13 received All-MIAC honorable mention, while Shane McSparron ‘15 became the 13th Knight tabbed to the MIAC All-First-Year team in as many seasons.
The conference’s Sixth Man-of-the-Year a season ago, Rosenow did the bulk of the heavy lifting on the interior for Carleton at both ends of the floor. He averaged 14.4 points per game during conference play for the Knights, which tied with Theisen for 10th in the MIAC. Over the last three seasons, Rosenow increased his scoring output from 1.7 points to 9.5 to 14.4.
His 7.7 rebounds per contest ranked third in the conference, as did his 5.6 defensive boards. He shot .567 from the field this season, which was fourth among conference players. He also ranked fifth among MIAC leaders in offensive rebounds (2.1) and minutes played (33.70) while ranking sixth in blocked shots (0.85). Rosenow paced the Knights in scoring 10 times and rebounding on 13 occasions. He tallied five double-doubles.
Sawatzke paced the Knights in scoring at 14.7 points per game overall and 15.1 points during MIAC games to finish eighth among conference players. He made 59 three-point field goals, second-best in the MIAC and shot .380 from beyond the arc during conference games to rank 10th among league leaders. He was third in the MIAC at 34.25 minutes played per contest.
Theisen split the season playing both the wing and post positions. He was at his best during conference contests, and his all-around skills are supported by the fact that Theisen ranks among conference leaders in such a wide variety of statistical categories.
He tied for 10th among MIAC players with 14.4 points per game and was 10th in rebounding (5.9). Despite not playing as a guard for most of the season, he paced the conference with 3.50 assists per MIAC game and was second with a 1.59 assist-to-turnover ratio. For the season, Theisen was third with 1.48 steals per game and ranked in the MIAC’s top 10 in defensive rebounds (4.55) and made three-pointers (37). He averaged 34.55 minutes per game, tied for most in the league.
McSparron moved into the starting lineup when the calendar flipped to January and was frequently given the assignment of guarding the opposing team’s most explosive perimeter player. His talents were not limited to only one end of the floor, however. In addition to ranking among conference leaders with 0.60 blocked shots per game, he was among the MIAC’s top 15 players in field-goal percentage (.532) and assists (2.10).
Carleton committed just 11.8 fouls per game this season, which was the best figure among all NCAA schools (Div. I, II, and III) for the third time in the last six years. The Knights have ranked among the Division III’s top four and the NCAA’s top 10 in this category for each of the past six seasons.