HELENA, Mont. – The 12th-ranked Carroll College men's basketball team built a 20-point lead and withstood a late comeback attempt to earn a 78-70 win over Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) (RV) Friday evening at the PE Center.

Four Saints scored in double figures led by Matt Wyman with 20 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Match Burnham scored 17 and Ryan Imhoff had 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists four blocks and six steals. Ife Kalejaiye tallied 13 points on just three shots, going 3-3 from the field and 5-6 from the free throw line.

The Saints opened the game with a 9-0 run on a jumper from Burnham, three-pointers from Ife Kalejaiye and Burnham and a free throw from Wyman. Carroll led by as many as 16 in the first half, but OLLU cut the lead to 35-22 at the break.

Our Lady of the Lake cut the lead to 37-29 with 16:57 left in the game, but the Saints went on a 19-7 run, culminated by another Burnham three-pointer to build a 56-36 advantage with 11:55 to play. 

OLLU began to chip away. Trailing 60-42, they went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 60-51 with 6:29 to play. Carroll responded with a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 15, but OLLU wasn't done. 

Our Lady of the Lake cut the lead to 74-70 with 44 seconds to play, but the Saints hit three of four free throws in the final 21 seconds to earn the seven-point win. 

The Saints were 27-52 (51.9 percent) from the field and 6-15 (40 percent) from the three-point line. OLLU was 28-64 from the field (43.8 percent) from the field and 5-21 (23.8 percent) from the three-point line. OLLU showed significant improvement in the second half, after shooting 10-33 (3.3 percent) before the break, they were 18-31 (58.1 percent) in the second frame. 

Both teams struggled with turnovers, racking up 19 each. OLLU pressed on nearly every defensive possession, but the Saints also ball hawked with 11 steals on the night. 

"At the beginning of the game, they played their zone press, and I thought we did well," head coach Carson Cunningham said. "We executed well, flying around, rotating and talking. In the second half, they hit some tough shots, and we weren't as sharp defensively. They also tweaked their press. They give you different looks with their pressure."

The Saints outrebounded OLLU 37-30 for the game. Carroll also had 22 assists to just eight for OLLU which led to some beautiful baskets for the Saints.

"We had some nice finishes, Matt had some amazing finishes, Emilio (Mancol) found some nice looks in his first game on the court.," Cunningham said. "I thought a lot of guys did a lot of great things. Obviously, we need to clean up the turnovers. There were a couple late that were just silly. Imhoff had five blocks, Emilio had four assists with just one turnover, Matt had a double-double and Lorel Johnson handled the ball really well again. He has handled so much pressure, and he still has a positive assist-to-turnover ratio."

The Saints are now 5-0 on the year while OLLU falls to 2-2. 

"Our Lady of the Lake is a good team, the pressure continuously," Cunningham said. "It was a great test for us. A great opportunity to handle that type of full-court pressure for an entire game. There were a lot of nifty plays, but there is a lot to work on. That is one of the reasons you test yourself early. It is a chance to face up to those weaknesses, figure them out and work on them."

Carroll gets another test Saturday with Southwestern Christian (Okla.), the Eagles topped Providence 69-64 in Great Falls Friday and own a 3-1 record on the year. 

The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the PE Center. Fans are encouraged to bring non-perishable foods for the Helena Food Share.