Carleton

We had another battle with Carleton on Saturday, this time on their home court. They had been playing well, winning their previous three games. They are always a tough matchup because all of their players can shoot the 3 and it forces Carl to play defense on the perimeter.

The game started with some back and forth action. Nobody really set the tone. Both teams made some tough shots and the score at the half was 34-30 Carleton. I certainly wasn't happy with the way we were playing but that is somewhat expected on the road. We were called for an intentional foul right before the half and it gave Carleton the momentum. It clearly wasn't an intentional and it's unfortunate that it was called that way, not the first time we have gotten screwed on a call like that.

The second half started off well for us as Ray Brown got hot. We kept giving him the ball and he was either scoring or getting to the free throw line. Ray had one of the best dunks I have ever seen in person in the middle of the half. He crossed up a player at the top of the key and then skied for a dunk and an and one to boot. He then missed the free throw but we have the momentum. That momentum didn't last long as Carleton battled back to get it tied quickly.

Down the stretch there were a couple of questionable calls going both ways and neither coach was happy. We were up two with about a minute and a half left and they ran a little screen the screener play and got a wide open look for three and drained it. We had a couple of chances at the end to either go up or to tie it and couldn't put one in the basket.

We ended up losing 66-63 and it dropped us from 3rd to 5th in the standings. Tough loss for the Pipers but one we need to learn from and get better.