SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – The sixth-ranked Carroll College men's basketball team fell to The Master's University 84-73 Friday on the road in the final game of The Master's New Year's Classic.
 
The Saints took a 15-11 lead with 13:48 left in the first half but three consecutive 3-pointers from Reid Shackelford gave The Master's a 20-17 lead with 11:58 remaining in the first half and the Mustangs never trailed for the remainder of the game.
 
TMU took a 42-31 lead at halftime on another Shackelford three-pointer at the buzzer.
 
The Saints cut the lead to 46-41 with 16:38 remaining in the game and kept the Mustangs within arm's reach but couldn't get over the hump. The Mustangs pulled away in the final minutes for the 11-points win.
 
Carroll shot 27-56 (48.2 percent) from the field. Ryan Imhoff led the Saints with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Lorel Johnson tallied 12 points, Matt Wyman had 11 and Oliver Carr added 10.
 
The Master's only notched five points from bench players but every starter scored in double figures. Shackelford scored 30 points to lead the Mustangs.

"We played a very good team in a true road game and came up short," head coach Carson Cunningham said. "The Master's deserves credit. They played well. We did some nice things but it wasn't enough. I think playing these sort of tough true road games in our non-conference slate, which is a rarity in the NAIA, should help us develop as a team and help us reach our true potential. But it's still tough to go through the process sometimes. Now we look toward bouncing back stronger."
 
The Saints close out non-conference play with an 11-3 record. The Master's improves to 11-1.
 
Carroll resumes Frontier Conference play Friday, Jan. 6, against the University of Great Falls at the PE Center.