Box Score Officially, he stands just 5-11. On Wednesday night, however, Zach Smith, played like he was a much larger -- and more experienced -- player. 

The freshman guard scored a career high 14 points and had a pair of steals as Hamline rallied from a 11-point halftime deficit but fell, 62-60, to hot shooting Carleton at Hutton Arena. Smith went 5-for-10 from the field and scored 10 of his points in a wild second half. 

The Knights took early command of the game. They led by as many as a dozen points early before settling for a 35-24 intermission margin. The Knights shot 55.2 per cent in the first 20 minutes. They were slightly better (55.6) in the next 20 minutes. But the Pipers clamped down quite a bit, forcing nine turnovers and limited the Knights to just 18 shot attempts. 

HU slowly worked their way back into the game, tying things up at 44 on a Herbert Tarpeh layup with 11:44 to play. The Pipers led a couple of times after that but Carleton inched forward and led, 55-50, with 3:43 remaining. Tarpeh then hit a free throw. Smith and Travis Johnson followed with jumpers and the game was retied at 55 with 90 seconds left. 

But Shane McSparron, Carleton's leading scorer, tallied five of his team's last seven points and the Knights held on for the win. 

Hamline fell to 5-8 overall, 2-6 in the MIAC. The Pipers host nationally ranked St. Thomas (11-1 overall, No. 3 in the d3hoops.com poll) Saturday on the back end of a women's-mens doubleheader. Game time at Hutton Arena is 3:00 p.m.