GAME NOTES

THE GAME: CARROLL vs. LINDSEY WILSON – NAIA DI NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OPENING ROUND
The fifth-ranked Carroll College men and Lindsey Wilson (RV) meet for the first time in history. The Fighting Saints are coming off of the second consecutive Frontier Conference Tournament Championship after defeating Montana Western 79-65 in the Championship game. Lindsey Wilson overcame a late-season slump and rolled through the Mid-South Conference Championship, winning the title game over Campbellsville (Ky.) 84-76. The two teams have no common opponents. 

ABOUT CARROLL
Carroll is 27-5 on the year, including a 13-5 mark in the Frontier Conference, good enough for a share of the title, a first-round bye in the conference tournament and home court advantage. The Saints capitalized on the home court and defeated Rocky Mountain 79-67 in the semifinals and Montana Western 79-67 in the final to earn the Frontier's Automatic bid. The Saints won 10 of their last 11 games, including a sweep of No. 20 Lewis-Clark State and No. 11 Montana Western in the last weekend of the regular season.
 
Ryan Imhoff leads the Frontier Conference in points (19.6 PPG) and steals (2.5 PG). He leads Carroll in rebounds (7.2 RPG), assists (3.9 APG) and blocks (1.0 BPG). Match Burnham is second on the team with 13.1 PPG, and Matt Wyman averages 12.2 PPG.
 
Carroll excels on the defensive end, allowing a Frontier best 65.16 PPG, three points better than Lewis-Clark, the second-best team in the league. When just conference games are included, Carroll is six points better than second-place Montana Tech.

ABOUT LINDSEY WILSON
Lindsey Wilson won the conference championship of the Mid-South, the conference that placed six teams in the field, the most among any conference. The Blue Raiders won their first 18 games and rose into the NAIA Coaches' Poll Top five. The injury bug hit hard and 6-11 center Nic Brown missed over a month and 6-6 forward Can Oztamur missed over a month each. With both players on the court, they were 21-2 and without them both on the court they were 3-6. With a healthy squad, Lindsey Wilson rolled through the Mid-South championship defeating Cumberlands 53-40, Georgetown 80-58 and Campbellsville 84-76 in the championship, All three teams are in the Championship field.
Bryan Wallace leads the Blue Raiders with 18.8 PPG and four other players average double figures. The Blue Raiders are ferocious on defense and are ranked fourth in total steals and sixth in scoring defense, giving up just 67.9 PPG. 

BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPIONS
The Saints won a share of the regular-season title before defending the tournament title with a 79-65 win over Montana Western in the championship game. 

1000 POINTERS
Three Saints; Ryan Imhoff (1,905), Oliver Carr (1,120) and Match Burnham (1,099) are all in the 1,000-point club. Matt Wyman (960) is on the verge breaking the millennium mark.

ROAD to 2,000?
Ryan Imhoff enters the tournament with 1,905 career points and sits fourth in school history behind Bill Pilgeram, Zach Taylor and Andy Garland.  The third-team All-American led the Saints in points and rebounds last year, and he leads Carroll in scoring (19.8PPG), rebounds (7.2 RPG), assists (3.9), steals (2.6) and blocks (1.0). 

SMALL COLLEGE HOOPS BEVO FRANCIS TOP-50
Ryan Imhoff is one of 50 players on the Small College Basketball Bevo Francis Award Top 50 for the SMB Player of the Year. The award is given to the best player among NAIA, NCAA DII, NCAA DIII, USCAA and NCCAA. There are over 1,100 schools that fall into all of the divisions.

THEY CALL THEM FREE FOR A REASON
The Saints are tops in the NAIA for free throw percentage (.824). Carroll closed out the season on top of the category each of the last two seasons and was second in 2014-15. 

FEELING IT FROM THE FIELD
Carroll is the top team in NAIA DI for field goal percentage (.540).  The Saints closed out the season in the top spot last year (.534) and the year before (.507). 

CUNNINGHAM'S to 100
The Saints won just two games the season before Cunningham was hired away from his high school alma mater, Adrean, in Northwest Indiana. Since that time, the Saints have improved every season, with back to back NAIA Quarterfinal appearances in the last two seasons. He broke the 100-win plateau against Montana Tech on Feb. 7 and is now 105-51. He hit the 100-win mark faster than any Carroll Coach in school history.

WIN STREAK 
The Saints' 15-game win streak to start the season is the best start in school history and tied or the longest streak in school history.