MISSOULA, Mont. – The Carroll College men's basketball team has faced three NCAA DII three times this season and for the second time this year, the Saints gave their opponent everything they wanted before eventually falling.
This time it was the University of Montana who rode a 23-point performance from sharpshooter Brandon Gfeller and Martin Bruenig's 15 points and 19 rebounds to a 70-61 win over the Fighting Saints in a game that the was an exhibition for Carroll and a regular season game for the Griz.
The game started with an 8-0 run for Montana and kept building to a 17-8 advantage before the Saints battled back with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 17-15.
Montana eventually rebuilt the lead to 40-26 at the half.
Carroll started the second half with a 12-4 run to cut the Montana lead to 44-38. The Grizzlies would rebuild the lead to 51-40 before another run by the Saints cut the advantage to 51-48 with 8:41 left in the game.
Montana would answer with an 8-0 run of their own to extend the lead back to 11, 59-48.
The Saints wouldn't get closer than seven points for the remainder of the game as the Griz held on for the 70-61 win.
"This was another challenging true road game," head coach
Carson Cunningham said. "We did some nifty things in the second half, but we came up a bit short. If we keep plugging, we'll find a way to pull through in a game like this. Montana made some big plays late and they deserve credit for that. We've been tested in a lot of different ways on the court over the past couple of weeks. We're looking forward to continuing to use our difficult slate to get better."
The Saints scored in double figures, led by
Zach Taylor with 16 points Oliver Car with 15 and
Sam McMahon with 14 points.
The Saints were 24 of 53 (45.3 percent) from the field while Montana shot 23 of 56 (41.1 percent) from the field. The Grizzlies outrebounded Carroll 41-27.
Carroll travels to Dickinson, N.D. for a pair of games beginning with Adams State on Nov. 27, before facing Dickinson State on their home court.
