HELENA, Mont. – Rocky Mountain built a 21-point lead and survived a Carroll College comeback bid en route to a 85-74 win over the Saints Saturday in Helena.
For the second-consecutive game the Saints struggled in the first half and allowed their opponent to build a big lead before rallying in the second half.
Rocky built a 27-10 with 9:49 left in the game before the Saints went on a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to 27-22 with 6:09 left in the first half.
The Bears built the lead back to 49-33 with a halftime buzzer beater by Zach Hinton.
Rocky started the second half just like they ended the first. The Bears extended their leas to 56-35 with 16:01 left to play before the Saints got their feet under them.
Defensive stops led to opportunities on the other end and the Saints cut the lead to 65-61 with 8:19 left in the game.
That would be as close as Carroll would come. The Bears proved too much and ended the game on a 24-9 run to earn the 85-74 win.
Oliver Carr led the Saints with a game-high 27 points on 7-of-12 shooting and 13-of-15 from the free-throw line.
Ryan Imhoff added 15 points and
Zayn Kirkendoll scored 14.
Carroll forced 26 turnovers but gave up 17 themselves. Rocky outrebounded the Saints 39-30.
Rocky set the tone and rhythm of the game. The quick transition game of the Bears didn't allow the Saints to play the strong defense that they hang their hat on.
"The effort, for whatever reason, wasn't focused enough and wasn't sharp enough," head coach
Carson Cunningham said. "I have to take responsibility for that. We've done so much better for so many games in a row, defensively, it's just frustrating."
Despite the frustrating result, Cunningham was happy to see the fight in his young team in the second half.
"Yet again, I'm impressed by our competitive spirit and fire," Cunningham said. "This is a gritty team. Our freshmen are doing amazing things. But we did not have the defensive intensity and focus to win this game. And it's too bad, because we forced 26 turnovers, we had 16 steals, but we obviously just didn't make it hard enough on them. You have to give Rocky credit. They were hungry in the first half, and we need to respond with a good week of practice and get ready for Wednesday."
The Saints received help from MSU-Northern who defeated Great Falls 62-55 in overtime to tie the Saints for fourth place but gave the Saints the fourth seed in the tournament due to a tiebreaker.
Carroll will host MSUN Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the PE Center in the quarterfinals of the Frontier Conference playoffs.
Lewis-Clark defeated Montana-Western Saturday to earn a share of the conference title and the top seed in the tournament. Western received the second seed; both teams receive a bye into the semifinals.
With the win over Carroll, Rocky earns the third sees and hosts UGF Tuesday in the other quarterfinal of the playoffs.
