KANSAS CITY – Ryan Imhoff scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while the Carroll defense played an outstanding game in a 61-53 win over seventh-seeded Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) in the first round of the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship at Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City.  

In a game when the Carroll shooting was uncharacteristically low for Carroll standards, the defense held the Blue Raiders to their lowest point total of the season.

"Our guards set a great tone defensively," head coach Carson Cunningham said. "Ife and Lorel and all of our guards did a great job, and it worked its way through the whole team.  Our defense kept us in it when we were struggling early in the second half, and then we got into a nice rhythm and executed the offensively and get us the kind of looks that we are looking for."

Imhoff was efficient, going 14-21 (.667) and supplied an offensive boost when the Saints began to struggle.

Carroll built a 32-28 lead at halftime and extended the lead to 36-28 after the break before Lindsey Wilson went on a 13-0 run over seven minutes of game time.  Spurred by Imhoff's offense, the Saints went on an 8-0 run to take a 47-43 lead with 7:08 to play and would not trail again.

LWU would keep the game close, but the Saints went 6-6 from the line over the final three minutes to close out the 61-53 win.

???????Imhoff's output is even more impressive when you look at the Lindsey Wilson lineup. The Blue Raiders have a lineup that includes a 7-footer in Hannes Erhardt and Nic Brown who checks in at 6-foot-11. Despite the height advantage, Imhoff dominated in the paint, scoring 20 of his 30 in the paint.  The Saints outrebounded Lindsey Wilson 38-27, paced by Imhoff's double-digit performance.

"Imhoff was a monster on both ends," Cunningham said. "We had several guys crashing and grabbing rebounds. It was a great win against a good team, and we immediately start prep for the next one which will be a monster."

The Saints were 23-51 (45.1 percent) from the field, but just 2-15 (13.3 percent) from the three-point line. Burnham added 12 points, and Matt Wyman scored nine.

Lindsey Wilson was 19-52 (36.5 percent) from the field and 6-16 (37.5 percent) from the three-point line. Bryan Wallace had a team high of 14 points, and Brown added 13 points and 12 rebounds.

The win propels the Saints to the round of 16 for the third consecutive year. They will play Our Lady of the Lake who upset third-seeded Hope International 68-60 Thursday night. The Saints topped OLLU 78-71 in Helena on Nov. 17. The two teams play at 8:15 Mountain Time Thursday.