BUTTE, Mont. – The 10th-ranked Carroll College men's basketball team struggled shooting in the second half and fell to Montana Tech 73-70 on the road Thursday.
 
The Saints played well in the first half, shooting 14-26 (53.8 percent) from the field in the first half and built a 41-28 advantage at the break.
 
The second half was another story as Carroll struggled to find any offensive rhythm, shooting just 7-24 (29.2 percent) from the field. Montana Tech chipped away and took their first lead of the second half with 5:36 to play. The two teams traded leads. Carroll took a 65-64 advantage with 2:10 remaining, but Tech went on a 5-0 run, to take control of the game the Saints had a chance to tie the game with eight seconds remaining, but a contested layup rolled off of the front of the rim.
 
"That was a disappointing result," head coach Carson Cunningham said. "We need to really lock in and focus to improve our execution each day. They're all battles in this league and you have to give Montana Tech credit for a game effort. We need to learn from it and get ready for the next one."
 
Five Carroll players scored in double figures led by Match Burnham with 15, Ryan Imhoff scored 13, Matt Wyman and Alejandro Santos Piqueras added 12 and Ife Kalejaiye scored 11.
 
Montana Tech was 21-50 (42 percent) from the field. Chris O'Neill led all scorers with 19 points Iman Chatman had 12 and Jake Miles added 11.
 
The loss drops Carroll to 17-4 on the year, and 5-4 in Frontier Conference play.
 
The good news for the Saints, Carroll hosts the next four at home, and six of the final nine games will be played at the PE Center.
 
Carroll begins the home stretch Saturday against Rocky Mountain.