GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The Carroll College men's basketball team held the No. 20 University of Great Falls to 18-of-57 (31.6 percent) from the field including 0-of-11 from behind the arch en route to a 61-57 road win Friday evening.
 
The Saints took an early 4-0 lead before the Argos battled back to take a 9-8 lead on free throws by Sergio Berkley.
 
Carroll seized back the lead on two free throws by Oliver Carr with 11:18 left in the first half and never trailed again. The Saints built a 10-point lead in the first half before UGF cut the lead to 27-23 at the break.
 
The Argos cut the Carroll lead to 33-32 with 16:13 left in the game, but Zach Taylor hit the only three-pointer of the game by either team to spark a 5-0 run to keep the Argos at bay.
 
UGF wouldn't get any closer for than four points for the rest of the game and the Saints prevailed 61-57.
 
"I was really impressed with guys' ability to carry out some really strong defensive rotations," head coach Carson Cunningham said. "Great Falls is a really strong team and I thought the guys played really solid defense, executed together and got great contributions across the board."
 
The biggest contribution may have come from senior captain Zayn Kirkendoll who held UGF leading scorer Marcus Hurn to just four points and 0-3 from the field.
 
"Look at the defense that Zayn Kirkendoll played against Hurn," Cunningham said. "He held him without a field goal. That is hard to do against a player with that skill. It was a really impressive defensive performance by him. On the other end of the court he didn't miss a shot."
 
Carr led all scorers with 17 points and Zach Taylor was also in double figures with 12 points. Maleek Singleton was the only UGF player in double-figures with 13.
 
The Saints are now 16-8 overall and 5-5 in Frontier Conference play. They face Montana State University-Northern in the battle of fourth-place teams Saturday. The game is scheduled to tip off at 8 p.m.