University of St. Thomas Athletics
Carleton
Keating, Rosefelt and Schnettler spur on Toms
1/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Senior forward Mike Keating scored 14 of his game-high 16 points in the second half as No. 6-ranked St. Thomas survived 37% shooting to hold off visiting Carleton 51-41 in MIAC men's basketball play Wednesday night in Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommies (18-2 overall, 14-1 MIAC) took sole possession of first place in the confernce by one game as St. John's lost 83-71 at Bethel. The Toms are 12-1 since Christmas and finished 10-1 in a 29-day stretch in the month of January. UST ran its conference home win streak to 14.
The Toms' 51 points were their fewest in a home victory since a 45-40 win over St. John's in January 1997.
Senior center Isaac Rosefelt had 12 points and 11 rebounds for his 38th career double-double. Senior guard Bryan Schnettler sank four 3-pointers and scored 12 points -- all in the first half -- for the Toms.
The Toms led 28-25 at halftime and while they never trailed in the second half they shot well under their 51.4% season clip from the field. They led just 33-31 then outscored the Knights 18-10 over the final 12:30. Keating scored 12 of the Toms' last 14 points, including 4-of-4 free throws in the final 1:34.
Carleton (7-13, 6-9) scored just 16 second-half points and shot only 26% from the field as it lost its fourth game in a row, by a combined 24 points. Sophomore forward Zach Johnson had 15 points (12 in the first half). Junior forward Tommy Drake, playing his first game after missing three games last week with illness, added eight points and nine rebounds. The Knights outrebounded UST 36-33 but had 14 turnovers to the Toms' 11.
UST senior guard Andrew Dwyer had six assists and helped hold Carleton senior guard Jake Phillips (983 career points) to five points, none in the second half.
UST junior forward Tommy Shimek had six points to help the Toms outscore Carleton 10-3 in bench points.
The Toms are home to play Bethel Saturday (1 p.m.). The Royals have won eight in a row to move from last place in the MIAC standings early in January to third place on the month's final day.
