HELENA, Mont. – Six players scored in double figures, led by
Ryan Imhoff with 20 points as the No. 9 Carroll College fighting Saints led wire-to-wire and routed NAIA DII No. 17 Warner Pacific (Ore.) 99-73 Friday evening at the PE Center.
The Saints jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back. Carroll went up 14-4 with 16:33 left in the first half and built the lead to 52-31 with 1:24 remaining before the break. A free throw from Warner's Bryce White cut the lead to 54-34 at the half.
Imhoff and
Match Burnham both notched 12 points in the first half to lead the 54-point effort.
Zach Taylor had six assists to go along with eight first-half points.
The Saints kept the pressure on in the second half. The Knights went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 62-47 with 14:32 remaining but that is as close as they would come. Carroll would build the lead to 96-67 with 2:31 left in the game but the Knights closed with a 6-3 run to end the game.
Along with Imhoff, Burnham (16),
Dane Warp (12),
Matt Wyman (11), Taylor (11) and
Oliver Carr (10) all scored in double figures for the Saints.
Carroll had an amazing 30 assists on 44 made shots. Taylor led the way with eight and
Lorel Johnson had five. Carroll outrebounded Warner 36-28 and Imhoff had a game-high eight boards. the Saints also scored an amazing 62 points in the paint.
"I was just really impressed with our ability to share the apple," head coach Carson Cunningham said. "That thing was whipping around, and when they're doing that they're making sauce. The energy picks up and it becomes bigger than the individual parts. You don't see 30 assists from a team in many college basketball teams. That's the second time they've done it in our four games. I think that's at testament to their willingness to play with each other and the fact they enjoy each other. That's fun to see as a coach, for sure."
White, a Portland State transfer, led the Knights with 21 points Collin Malcolm had 11 and Montel Shirley had 12.
The Saints were a stellar 44-66 (66.7 percent) from the field, including 7-10 from the 3-point line and 20-28 (71.4 percent) in the second half. Warner shot 23-56(41.1 percent).
The game was the first of the Season for Warner who falls to 0-1. Carroll is now 4-0 on the year.
The Saints are back in action Saturday evening against Salish Kootenai College at 7:30 p.m. at the PE Center.
