BILLINGS, Mont. – Rocky Mountain had a big first half and survived a second-half Carroll College run to earn an 82-79 win over the No. 8 Saints Thursday at the Fortin Center in Billings. 

The Battlin' Bears outscored the Saints 39-25 in the first half and built a 50-33 lead with 14:34 left in the game before the Saints battled back. 

The Saints went a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to 52-47 with 10:58 left. Back-to-back three-pointers from Rocky extended the lead back to 11 (58-47). 

The rest of the game followed a similar script, the Saints chipped away and Rocky answered with big shots. 

Carroll cut the lead to 75-71 with 1:08 remaining but RMC hit four-straight free throws to extend the lead to 79-71. The Saints were able to cut the lead to 82-79 in the final second but the time ran out on the comeback attempt. 

The Saints shot an uncharacteristic 40 percent (22-55) from the field. Zach Taylor led the Saints with 22 points, Ryan Imhoff tallied 20 and Matt Wyman scored 10.

Rocky was 25-53 (47.2 percent) from the field. Four RMC players scored in double figures led by Taylor Graves with 25 points.

After winning 10 in a row, the Saints have now dropped two-straight but Carroll gets a full week before hosting the University of Great Falls Friday in Helena. 

The Saints are now tied with Montana Western in the loss column for first in the Frontier at 11-3. Carroll has four games remaining, including the final home games of the season, next week in Helena.