Sports
Carpenter Becomes Ninth Knight to Score a Century
STMA senior basketball player Joe Carpenter scored 21 points in last night's 77-60 win over Princeton. The tally gives him 1,008 career points and puts him in elite company.
STMA senior Joe Carpenter on Tuesday night became just the ninth basketball player in Knights history to score 1,000 points in a career.
Carpenter reached the milestone on a free throw with 7:10 remaining in the second half of Tuesday's 77-60 blowout of Mississippi 8 Conference foe Princeton.
Carpenter came into the game against the Tigers needing just 13 points to accomplish the feat – four points below his 2010-11 per game average.
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“He told me he's going to be pretty upset if the coach pulls him out with 12 points,” long-time family friend Sandy Stauffer said with a smile after the first half.
“I'm sure he's thinking about it,” Joe Carpenter, Sr. said at the intermission. “He wants to win first and foremost but it's probably somewhere in the back of his mind.”
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While his game face displayed the characteristic stone-cold countenance he brings to every match-up, Carpenter seemed to be a victim of early nerves – missing his first two shots and looking a bit timid in the opening minutes.
"I was a little nervous to start," Carpenter said after the game. "This was my last home game and I was thinking about a lot of things. Then I just fell into a rhythm."
Affectionately referred to by friends and family as 'Joe-Joe', Carpenter finished the game with 21 points, giving him at total of 1,008 career points going into the Knights' final conference game against Rogers on Friday, Mar. 4.
Although younger sister Brittney was excited for Carpenter, it seems she already has her sights set on matching his achievement. "One thousand points...no problem," she said with a laugh after the game.
Joe Carpenter joins a list of previous 1,000-point scorers for STMA that is short but distinguished. It includes, among others, Theo Rothstein of St. Cloud State University as well as father-son NFL duo Ken and Matt Spaeth.
Carpenter and the Knights have a slight chance to win the Mississippi 8 Conference when they play Rogers on Friday after conference leader Buffalo fell 58-63 to Big Lake last night.
The Knights' win and the Bufflo loss puts STMA just a half game behind the Bison with one game to play.
