VALLEY CITY, N.D. – Carroll College trailed Valley City State by as much as 14 points but closed the game with a 21-6 run to earn a 63-60 road victory and move to 3-0 on the season.
"It was a hard fought affair," Carroll head coach Carson Cunningham said. "We had a lot of shots that we felt like good shots that didn't go down, but our defense played tremendously and kept the game close enough that we could make that run."
The Saints took an early 5-0 lead on buckets from Jon Pulsifer and Ryan Imhoff on the first two Carroll possessions.
The Vikings battled back and both teams traded leads until the 8:38 mark in the first half when the score was tied 19-19. Valley City then went on a 7-0 run to kick off a scoring spree that gave them a 38-24 lead with 1:47 left in the first half.
"We were bouncing around like hot atoms," Cunningham said. "It was the first road game of the season and for much of our team it was the first college road game ever. We had to slow down a little and get our feet under us. It was nice to see them do that in the second half."
The Vikings held a 40-27 lead at the break and held a double digit lead most of the second half before the saints started to chip away at the lead with just under ten minutes left in the game.
"We told the guys that it can be alternate universe on the road," Cunningham said. "We got a little discombobulated but we kept working and played exceptional defense."
The Carroll defense held the Vikings to 20 points in the second half.
Zach Taylor led the Saints with 17 points and Imhoff added 13 points. Logan Franco da Silveira tallied a game-high nine rebounds.
Taylor scored 14 of his 17 points after the half, including seven points from the free throw line, to spur the Carroll run.
"Zach had a really good second half," Cunningham said. "In the first half he didn't play like we know he can but he came back after the break was very assertive. He attacked and is paid dividends at the line."
The Saints close out their North Dakota road trip at the University of Jamestown Saturday evening.
