HELENA, Mont. – The Carroll College men's basketball team is 5-0 in Frontier play but it hasn't been a breeze. The Saints have trailed in the second half of four of their first five conference games. The conference slate is void of an easy games and the schedule for this weekend's games is evidence of the difficulty.
Carroll plays its third-straight road game Thursday against Montana Western in Dillon. The Saints handed the Bulldogs a 64-63 loss on Doc. 9, after
Zach Taylor banked in a 25-footer at the buzzer for the win.
Saturday, the Saints host Rocky Mountain in the first meeting for the two teams on the season and the lone home came for the Saints in a six-game stretch.
Carroll is one of the hottest teams in the country, the Saints have won nine of the last 10 games with the lone loss coming to No. 10 Biola, on the road and without the Saints leading scorer in Taylor.
Carroll played four games in seven days last week and went 4-0, including road conference wins at then No. 23 MSU-Northern and a tough battle at the University of Great Falls.
Taylor leads the way with 17.4 points and five assists per game but
Ryan Imhoff led the Saints in scoring in both games over the weekend. Imhoff is third on the team at 12 PPG and leads the team with 6.1 rebounds per game while
Oliver Carr scores 13.5 PPG.
The Bulldogs entered the season as a favorite in the conference but struggled out of the gate, starting the season with four losses in the first seven games. The biggest setback came in a 72-67 loss to Walla Walla, one of two wins on the season for the lowly Wolves.
The Bulldogs have righted the ship, winning four straight before falling on the road to No. 5 Lewis-Clark Saturday.
All-American Dexter Williams Jr. leads Western with 15.47 points and 7.77 rebounds per game. Shyle Smalls scored 14.9 points per game and Demitiurs Balark adds 10.76 PPG.
Rocky Mountain fell out of the rankings after a 100-59 loss to Lewis-Clark but rebounded with an 82-67 win over Montana Tech Saturday. RMC is 11-5 overall and 2-2 in Frontier play.
Rob Nyby leads the Bear offense with 18.8 points per game and three other RMC players average double figures points.
The Saints and Bulldogs are scheduled to tipoff at 7:30 p.m. in Dillon Thursday. Carroll and Rocky tipoff at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the PE Center.
