Portland, Ore. – Matt Wyman scored 25 points, including a go-ahead layup with 10 seconds remaining and
Ryan Imhoff added 24 points to lead No. 12 Carroll College to an 89-85 come from behind road win at Warner Pacific at Bart Valentine Court.
The Saints led early, building a 12-6 advantage with 15:20 to play in the first half before the Knights rallied to tie the game at 17 with 10:33 left in the half and built a 45-35 lead at the break.
After the half, Warner extended the lead to 49-35 before Carroll came roaring back with a 16-0 run to take a 51-49 lead with 15:51 left.
The rest of the half was a back and forth with no team building a lead more than five points. The Knights led 84-79 with 2:26 left, but
Ife Kalejaiye hit a three-pointer to cut it to 84-82 before a free throw from WPC's Xavier Cannefax extended the lead back to 85-82.
A layup by Wyman cut it to 85-84 before a steal by
Match Burnham and an intentional foul by WPC gave Carroll two free throws and the ball back. Burnham hit one to tie the game at 85 with 33.7 seconds left.
Lorel Johnson drove baseline and dished the ball back to a cutting Wyman for a tough contested layup with 10 seconds to go to give the Saints an 87-85 advantage.
The Knights attempted a hurried three-pointer, but Imhoff got the rebound and was fouled. He hit his two shots up put Carroll up 89-85 with four seconds left. A desperation heave from Warner careened off the rim, and the Saints held on for the win.
"What a competitive challenge we faced today," head coach Carson Cunningham said. "The fellas battled. We got some key stops late even though we struggled for other stretches on defense. Our vets have shown their competitive spirit over the years, and it helped carry us again this evening. It's fun to coach grapplers."
Along with Wyman and Imhoff, Burnham (12), Kalejaiye (11) and
Oliver Carr (12) all scored in double figures for the Saints.
Alejandro Santos Piqueras tallied a team-high seven rebounds. Carroll was uncharacteristically outrebounded. WPC's De'Jon Bowman did most of the damage with 16. Four Knights scored in double figures with Malcolm Collin leading the way with 19.
Carroll was 30-52 (57.7 percent) from the field, but struggled from the three-point line, hitting just 2-9 (22.2 percent.) Warner was 34-61 (55.7 percent) from the field and 8-17 (47.1 percent) from the three-point line.
The big advantage for the Saints was the free throw line where Carroll was 27-39 (69.2 percent) to just 9-15 (60 percent) for the Knights.
The Saints return home before making the trek to play Purdue in an exhibition game on Nov. 1 in West Lafayette, Ind.