MISSOULA, Mont. – Despite foul trouble, Ryan Imhoff notched a game-high 25 points in just 27 minutes on the court to lead four Saints in double figures, but the Montana Grizzlies overcame a first-half deficit to prevail over Carroll College 86-75 Sunday evening at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.
 
The Saints came out with guns blazing, Imhoff hit his first three shots to help Carroll build a 6-4 lead that they extended to 14-8 with back-to-back three-pointers from Match Burnham and Alejandro Santos Piqueras with 15:34 to play in the first half.
 
The Grizzlies responded with a 6-0 run to tie the game at 14 apiece less than two minutes later. Carroll rebuilt the lead to 22-19 on back-to-back shots from Imhoff with 10:57 remaining. Carroll was holding on to a 24-22 lead when Imhoff was called for his second foul with 8:39 left in the first half. Just 15 seconds later Imhoff was called for his third, and he would sit for the remaining 8:24 of the first half. He had 14 first-half points, most among all players, in less than 12 minutes on the court.
 
Even with their All-American on the bench, the Saints kept pace with Montana through the remainder of the first half. Kalejaiye buried a three-pointer with 49 seconds remaining to tie the game at 44-42, but the Grizzlies hit back-to-back buckets to take a 46-42 advantage into the break.
 
Montana extended the lead to 62-50 with 13:43 left in the game, but Piqueras hit a three, came up with a big-time block on the other end and hit another three on the ensuing possession to cut the lead to 62-56 with 10:37 remaining.
 
The Grizzlies responded with a bucket from leading scorer Ahmaad Rorie, but Imhoff picked up a bucket and a foul on the other end to cut the lead to 64-59 with 10:05 left, but that is as close as the Saints would come.
 
Montana built their largest lead, 72-59 with 6:29 remaining. The two teams traded baskets over the final six minutes, and the Grizzlies would hold on for the 86-57 win.
 
Imhoff's performance was special. He looked dominant at times until the fouls took him out of the action. In two NCAA DI exhibition games this season, he averaged 23 points, including a 21-point performance against Purdue.
 
Along with Imhoff's 25 points, Burnham and Piqueras had 14 each for Carroll and Matt Wyman added 12. The Saints were 25-45 (55.6 percent) from the field, including 16-21 (76.2 percent) in the first half. Carroll was 8-12 (66.7 percent) from the three-point line, including 4-4 in the first half.
 
Montana made their hay in the paint with a 50-22 advantage in points in the paint  and a 33-22 rebounding edge en route to 18 second-chance points. They also forced Carroll into 20 turnovers with nine steals.
 
The Griz were 33-59 (55.9 percent) from the field, but just 5-13 (38.5 percent) from the three-point line.
 
 "We've got to tip the proverbial cap to the Montana Grizzlies," head coach Carson Cunningham said. "They're offensive rebounding and drives helped put them over the top. We did some nice things, but I need to have the fellows more ready to go on the defensive end from the jump."
 
The game was a regular-season game for Montana who moves to 4-2 on the year. Carroll remains at 6-0 on the year.
 
The Saints open Frontier Conference play Saturday against MSU-Northern in Havre.