LEWISTON, Idaho – It wasn't easy, but nobody expected it to be. In two previous meetings between Carroll College and Lewis-Clark State in men's basketball, the Saints won both, but by a combined four points, the second game went into overtime.
 
Saturday night, Carroll overcame a second-half slump to earn a 63-60 win and earn the outright Frontier Conference title and the No. 1 Seed in the conference tournament.
 
Although the Oscars aren't until Sunday night, fourth-year head coach Carson Cunningham was in a praise-giving mood after his team accomplished what no Carroll team had in over a decade.
 
"When you're part of a group that does something like this, you can't help but be grateful," Cunningham said. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to coach these fantastic, moxie-filled young men, for all the members of the coaching staff, coach Carlito Labarda, coach Jesse Repay, coach Scott Menzies and manager Judd Brost. I'm grateful for Carroll College, which has a huge heart, for the folks who help us put on home and away games and who clean up afterward, for athletic trainer Jeff Birchell.  I could go on and on. Shoot I've stolen so much -- actually, Huck Finn calls it borrowing -- from Gene Keady and Brad Stevens, I've got to thank them.  I've gotten to learn from a great group of coaches at Carroll -- Coach Rachelle Sayers and Gary Turcott, Coach Mike Van Diest and his incredible staff and more. Fortunately, we've got a lot of hoops in front of us. We'll savor this tonight and get back to prep mode for the conference tourney and then the national tourney."
 
The game was an instant classic, but it didn't start that way. Lewis-Clark missed their first eight shots from the field and trailed by 28-18 with 6:35 left in the first half. The Warriors were able to cut the Carroll advantage to 32-25 at the break.
 
Lewis-Clark came out of the second half on fire and went on a 25-10 run to take a 50-42 lead with 7:58 remaining in the game. Ryan Imhoff then hit back-to-back buckets to get the game. The Saints regained the lead, 54-52, on a three-pointer from Dane Warp with 3:34 left.
 
The Warriors answered with back-to-back buckets of their own to take a 56-54 lead before Zach Taylor was fouled on a made bucket, he hit the free throw to put the Saints up 57-56 with 1:31 on the clock.
 
LCSC's Zavon Jackson gave his team the 59-58 lead on a layup, but Matt Wayman answered with a long two at the end of the shot clock to put Carroll up 59-58 with 39 seconds remaining.
 
A missed Warrior shot was rebounded by Ife Kalejaiye, he was fouled immediately and hit both of his free throws. Doug McDaniels got a layup with six seconds left to cut the Carroll lead to 61-60. After a timeout, the Saints got it into Steven Helm, a 93 percent free throw shooter, he was fouled immediately and buried both attempts.
 
One more attempt from Lewis-Clark went awry, Imhoff collected the rebound as the clock expired, and the Saints earned their first Frontier Conference outright title since the 2005-06 season.
 
The Saints finish the regular-season at 25-5, and a 15-3 record in Frontier Conference play, a game ahead of second-place Montana Western. Lewis-Clark finished 21-9 overall and 11-7 in conference, good enough for third.
 
Carroll was 25-61from the field, good enough for 41 percent, well below the season average of 53.4 percent. Lewis-Clark also shot well below their 48 percent season average, hitting 23-54 (42.6 percent). Their total score of 60 points is the lowest point total of the season.
 
Imhoff scored a team-high 18 points, Taylor had 14 and Wyman added 12.
 
Zavon Jackson had a monster game for LCSC, scoring a game-high 20 points and wrangling 13 rebounds. Doug McDaniel also had a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards. Trea Thomas added 10 for the Warriors.
 
Carroll took care of the ball. They tallied just four turnovers while forcing LCSC in 13, which led to 13 points. The Warriors outrebounded the Saints 43-30, which led to a 10-2 advantage for LCSC in second chance points.
 
Carroll will now await the results of the quarterfinal games before learning their next opponent. As the top seed, the Saints will host the lowest ranked team remaining in the tournament on Saturday, March 4. Lewis-Clark will host the University of Great Falls in one quarterfinal match up and MSU-Northern hosts Rocky Mountain in the other. The quarterfinal games take place on Wednesday, March 1.
 
Tickets go on sale Monday at the PE Center front office or by calling 406-447-4480. Playoff pricing will be $14 for reserved, $10 for general admission, $6 for seniors and students college age and under.