HELENA, Mont. – The Montana Western men's basketball team was picked to finish second in the Frontier Conference and were ranked No. 23 in the country to begin the season.

That is before the opened the season with four losses in seven games, including setbacks to the University of Lethbridge and lowly Walla Walla University, a team whose only other win came in a 90-85 win over equally humble Northwest Indian College.

After early struggles, the Bulldogs have started the Frontier Season on a high note  defeating the University of Great Falls 79-52 and No. 24 MSU-Northern 72-57 both at home.

Wednesday they come to Helena to face the red-hot Fighting Saints who are coming off of a near-perfect performance in the second half of Friday's 96-70 win over No. 7 Lewis-Clark. Carroll shot 20-of-22 from the field in the second half and turned a three-point deficit into a 26-point win.

The Saints moved into the NAIA Top-25 for the first time since the 2011-12 preseason poll. Carroll checked in at the No. 16 spot while UMW was among the teams that fell from the rankings altogether.

The Bulldogs are led by All-American Dexter Williams Jr. who scores 16.2 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds a game. Shyke Smalls (13.9) and Demitius Balark (11.44) also score double-figures for the Bulldogs.

Carroll is paced by reigning Frontier Player of the Week Zack Taylor who leads the Frontier with 20.63 points per game. Taylors scored 21 against Montana Tech and 24 against Lewis-Clark to lead the Saints in both games.

Oliver Carr (14), Ryan Imhoff (12.9) and Lorel Johnson (10.7) all score in double figures for the Saints. Imhoff is Carroll's leading rebounder with 6.4 RPG.

Taylor wasn't the only member of the Saint squad to be honored this week. Head coach Carson Cunningham was named the NAIA National Coach of the week by Hoopdirt.com, a well-respected coaching search website.

The Saints and Bulldogs take the court at 7:30 p.m. at the PE Center.