HELENA, Mont. – Young but experienced. It isn't a combination that happens a lot in college basketball but the Carroll College men's basketball program boasts just a pair of seniors and one junior. The Saints also return six of their top seven scorers and the previous two Frontier Conference Freshmen of the Year in Zach Taylor (2013-14) and Oliver Carr (2014-15).
 
Head coach Carson Cunningham enters his third season again with improvement on his mind and he feels like his team ready to better the 18 wins that they achieved a year ago.
 
"We are optimistic. I feel like the guys worked hard put themselves in a position to be better players this season return a lot of experience," Cunningham said. "We have another year under our belt and it's an exciting group with their skills and athleticism. We can do some pretty great things on the court when we are playing well."
 
Along with Carr and Taylor, the Saints return starters Jake Hollifield and Ryan Imhoff as well as fifth-leading scorer Lorel Johnson. Last year, the Saints were on the bubble but missed an NAIA National Tournament bid. This season, with more experience, the Saints hope to break through.
 
"We have to build on last year, that's the goal," Cunningham said. "Zach has put together phenomenal seasons already and Hollifield has been here and helped rebuild this thing. He gives us tons of energy in rebounding and defense and we are excited about the possibilities this season."
 
Along with a talented group of returners, Carroll brought in four freshmen, including three guards to help bolster the Saints' three-point shooting. Also back is sophomore Andrew Campbell and freshman Kyle Nickol who redshirted last season.
 
"We didn't shoot as well we wanted last year but did other things well," Cunningham said. "We brought in a lot of shooting and return Campbell who can flat out shoot. Sam (McMahon), Match (Burnham) at 6-8 and Kyle Nickol can shoot the three. Matt Wyman has been shooting well and does so many other things so well. The pieces are complimentary to what we already had in place."
 
The Saints have one game under their belt, a 119-49 win over Concordia University of Edmonton. Carroll shot 15-of-29 from the three-point line and 44-of-77 from the field. Six Saints scored in double figures.
 
Friday Carroll faces an entirely different task at the Frank Dye Invitational in Vallejo, Calif., The Saints open the tournament with Menlo Friday at 6:30 p.m. MTN time before facing Cal Maritime Saturday at 8:30 p.m. MTN.
 
Menlo is under first-year head coach Kaniela Aiona who hopes to turn the Oaks' fortunes after finishing 3-23 a season ago. Menlo brings back much of their key contributors and Aiona has brought in a talented recruiting class.
 
"Menlo returns its top five scorers with a new coach who brought in good new players," Cunningham said. "Their new point guard from Norway (Anders Nymo) played on the national team. They played a ton of freshman last year and they are all back with some nice pieces. We have to be ready to play in their home state. Our California guys are fired up about that. Hopefully we are ready to accept a tough challenge in game one."
 
The Saints follow up with a game against Cal Maritime on their home court. The Saints played the Keelhaulers a season ago at home and came away with a 75-67 victory.
 
Maritime finished the season 19-10 and lost out in the first round of the NAIA DII Championship. The Keelhaulers graduated leading scorer Dominique Barnes but picked up 6-8 San Francisco State transfer Malik Edwards.
 
"Maritime return a lot," Cunningham said. "They lost their leading scorer but they have a transfer at guard who I think is going to get a lot of tick. They beefed up down low and they run a crafty action like a well-oiled offensive machine, we have to be ready for that."
 
The trip is the first of four road trips to the Golden State including exhibition games against three NCAA DI opponents, the University of the Pacific, the University of California and Stanford University.
 
The Saints play eight true road games in the non-conference and exhibition slate.
 
"A lot of schools look to schedule home games or neutral site games but this season we are putting our guys to the test with a slew of true road games," Cunningham said. "Playing tough competition on the road early will pay dividends in conference."
 
Live streaming of this weekend's games is available here.