HELENA, Mont. – The 23rd-ranked Carroll College men's basketball team outscored No. 15 MSU-Northern 36-26 in the second half en route to a 63-51 win over the Lights in a defensive battle.
The Saints struggled early, allowing Northern to build a 10-2 lead with 15:12 remaining in the first half before rattling off nine-straight points to take an 11-10 lead with 12:20 on the clock.
Carroll took a 26-19 lead with 5:06 left in the first half but the Lights battled to cut the deficit to 27-25 at the break.
Northern took a brief 31-29 lead with 16:57 left in the game but the Saints answered on the next possession. A 3-point attempt by
Zach Taylor rimmed out and sailed into the air.
Matt Wyman was there for an emphatic put-back dunk to tie the game at 31, the Saints would not trail again.
The dunk spurred a 10-0 run and the Saints eventually built a 57-40 lead with 5:17 left. Northern would cut the lead to 12 in the final minute but it was too little, too late for the Lights.
Taylor led all scorers with 25 points, the most since his 29 points against Dickinson State in November.
Matt Wyman tallied 11 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double and
Steven Helm came off the bench for 10 points on 4-5 (80 percent) shooting.
Cameron Epps was the lone Northern player in double digits with 17 points.
The Saints were an atypically low 20-50 (40 percent) from the field but were 20-23 (87 percent) from the free throw line, including 17-18 (94.4 percent) in the second half.
Northern was 21-45 (46.7 percent) from the field. The Saints outrebounded Northern 34-27, including a 6-1 advantage on the offensive glass. Northern tallied 15 turnovers while Carroll had just seven.
Defense was the emphasis this weekend in practice and after holding UGF to 56 Friday and Northern to 51 Saturday, the Saints seem to have found a strong foothold.
"It was nice to see us flying around and talking on defense," head coach Carson Cunningham said. "That's a big focus. We feel like we were tested in our non-conference slate and the guys are digesting those lessons. Now the key is to continue to grow even if you win. The focus from here on out is just playing defense."
Carroll improves to 13-3 and 3-1 in Frontier play. MSU-Northern is now 13-3 and 2-2 in conference.
