DILLON, Mont. -  The 21st-ranked Carroll College men's basketball team overcame the loss of three players who fouled out, including two of the top four leading scorers, to earn an 82-80 win over No. 22 Montana Western Thursday night. The win locked up the second seed and a first-round bye in the Frontier Conference playoffs for the Saints.
 
Zach Taylor put up big numbers to lead the Saints to the win, He tallied 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, just four assists off of a triple double. Lorel Johnson scored 14 points and tallied six assists off of the bench. Match Burnham tallied 18 points and Ryan Imhoff scored 14 points, despite fouling out.
 
The game was riddled with fouls, a total of 51 fouls were called between the two teams and four players fouled out. Seven players between two teams received more than four fouls.
 
The game looked to be in Western's hand early.  Conner Woodill scored 11 of his 14 points in the first 8:33 of the game culminating with a bucket at the 12:27 mark in the first half to give Western a 19-13. The Saints answered with back-to-back 3-pointers by Zach Taylor to tie the game at 19.
 
Western built a 26-21 lead with 9:20 to play but the Saints went on a 10-2 run to take a 31-28 lead with 6:33 remaining. Carroll would lead for the remainder of the game but Western would keep it close.
 
The Saints took a 42-38 lead into halftime but the Dawgs cut it to 46-45 with 16:41 to play in the game. The two teams would trade buckets until a Carroll run gave the Saints a 70-62 lead with 5:46 left, the largest of the game for either team.
 
Montana Western chipped away and hit some clutch 3-pointers down the stretch, including a 25-foot bank by Woodill with 10 seconds remaining to cut it to 81-80. 
 
Johnson made one of two free throws with nine seconds left but Woodill's drive and shot fell short and Taylor grabbed the rebound with .8 seconds left to clinch the two-point  victory.
 
The win snaps a three-game skid for the Saints and head coach Carson Cunningham knows how difficult it is to come out of a skid against a ranked team, on the road.
 
"The Fighting Saints battled. It's not easy to get knocked down by losing three in a row," Cunningham said. "The fellas dusted themselves off and re-engaged in the battle. I'm happy for them and grateful for the opportunity to coach them."
 
Carroll was 27 of 57 (47.4 percent) from the field and the two teams were essentially even in the rebounds with western winning the battle 37-36.
 
The Bulldogs were 25 of 56 (44.6 percent) from the field. Dexter Williams Jr. led the Bulldogs with 22 points and nine rebounds. Every Western starter was in double digits in the points column.
 
Cunningham credits the assistant coaches with the adjustments made to get the Saints in the position to win.
 
"Coach Labarda and Coach Pearson and student manager Judd Brost did a fantastic job of working to help the fellas prepare," Cunningham said. "Tomorrow we'll be back at it, preparing for Senior Night on Saturday versus Rocky Mountain."
 
The Saints final home game of the season is slated for Saturday at 7 p.m. at the PE Center against Rocky Mountain. The Carroll seniors will be honored between the women's and men's game.
 
Prior to the women's game the athletic department will have a fan appreciation 'tailgate' with hotdogs, ships and a drink for $2. The tailgate will be open from 3:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.