<ylor Hanson ‘14 proved too strong for the Macalester College Scots as the senior poured in a career-best 34 points to carry the Carleton College men’s basketball team to a 66-52 road victory.
This was the first 30+ point game by a Knight this season and the most by a Carleton player since Zach Johnson tallied 36 against St. Olaf on Feb. 2, 2009. Hanson finished the tilt 12-of-16 from the field and 10-of-11 at the charity stripe. He also snagged a game-high nine rebounds.
Due to Hanson’s monster performance, Tianen Chen ‘17 was the only other player in double figures for the Knights, finishing with 12 points and five rebounds off the bench.
Despite an 0-for-6 showing beyond the arc, with Hanson leading the way Carleton shot 52.2 percent from the field for the game. At the other end of the floor, the Knights limited the Scots to 38.5 percent shooting performance.
After Macalester built a 25-20 lead with 5:30 remaining in the first half, Carleton closed the period with a 13-4 run ignited by a three-point play by Hanson and capped by Peter Bakker-Arkema’s ‘17 putback as the opening period expired.
Hanson kept the momentum with the Knights with a jumper to open the second half, the first two of his 21 second-half points.
The Scots closed to within 46-43 with eight minutes still to play, but that’s when Hanson delivered the knockout blow. He scored all of Carleton’s points during a 10-2 spurt that gave the visitors an 11-point cushion with 4:40 remaining. Macalester got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Dylan Kilgour did his best to keep Macalester in the game, accounting for 27 points. No other Scot tallied more than eight points.
Hanson destroyed his previous career best of 23 points established in the season opener at Colorado College. Against the Scots, he accounted for 16 of the Knights’ final 20 tallies with the other four points coming at the free-throw line.
Although the Knights fared well against their St. Paul-based rivals, Carleton couldn’t pull off a win against Northfield foe St. Olaf College.
Taylor Hanson’s game-high 17 points—14 of them coming in the second half—helped put the Knights in front at times in the second half, but the Knights were unable to emerge victorious in a back-and-forth tilt against the Oles that ended 52-47 in favor of the visitors.
“Taylor’s always a warrior at both ends of the floor. Totally consumed, very talented, very hard-working, and a good man to have,” said Carleton head coach Guy Kalland after the game, “St. Olaf is a nice club. I thought we guarded really well and were pretty organized from that standpoint.”
Carleton (7-4, 5-6 MIAC) played neck-and-neck with St. Olaf (12-4, 9-2 MIAC) out of the starting gates, and strung together a five-point lead before heading into intermission with the score knotted up at 23-23.
The Knights came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, opening the period with a 10-4 run. The Oles responded later in the period with an 11-0 run to give the visitors a 42-37 lead with 9:19 to play.
Hanson scored Carleton’s next eight points, including a pair of free throws that the Knights back on top 45-44 with 4:25 remaining. But the upset was not to be as St. Olaf pulled off an 8-2 run to end the game.
In addition to his game-high 17 points, Hanson also contributed nine boards for the Knights. Carleton also benefited from a 10-rebound performance by John Eckert ‘16 and nine points from first-year guard Beau Smit ‘17.
Connor Gunderson totaled 14 points to lead the Oles, who shot 54 percent in the second half to overcome a 37-21 disadvantage.
“I thought we sustained a good level of play,” said Kalland, “I think we’re playing at a solid level that we need to continue to play at to try to grab a playoff spot.”