HELENA, Mont. -- Down nine in the second half. 

Down five with 50 seconds left.

Down three with seven seconds left.

No matter the trial, the Carroll College Fighting Saints were unflappable on Tuesday, overcoming a tough Montana Tech team to take an 82-78 win in the PE Center to open up the Frontier Conference season.  

"I'm happy for the guys," Saints coach Kurt Paulson said. "They're obviously ecstatic in the locker room. Everyone contributed." 

Tech, the giant killers just a few weeks ago after defeating the University of Montana, challenged the Saints in a variety of ways. Carroll's youth-driven team -- save for senior Dane Warp -- showed some of its inexperience but made up for it when it mattered most. 

When Oredigger cheers reverberated off the PE Center walls with under a minute to go, Carroll never quit. Tech held onto the ball with 30 seconds left, but the Saints forced a turnover as Shamrock Campbell came away with a steal. 

Campbell found Dennis Flowers III and the freshman nailed a three with 22 seconds left to narrow the margin to two points.

"The kid is a true freshman and he just stepped up immensely," Paulson said. "It's so nice having his quickness on the floor for us not only offensively but defensively he is just changing the tempo of the game."

Tech took a timeout and drew up a press breaker, but Campbell still came away with another steal. Jovan Sljivancanin missed the potential go-ahead triple as he was contacted on the play, and the Saints were forced to foul after Tech gathered the ensuing rebound.

Tech leading scorer Sindou Diallo went to the line and hit his first. 

The second rimmed out and into the hands of Warp. 

Warp raced down the court and drew contact on a three-point attempt, drawing three free throws with a second left on the clock. 

The ever-steady senior rattled the first two in. And after a Tech timeout, Warp calmly snuck the third to tie the game at 68. 

"I knew he was going to put them in," Paulson said of Warp's pressure-filled free throws. "He had that look in his eye." 

While the scoreboard suggested an even game going into overtime, the Saints fans in the PE Center made sure everybody knew the momentum was on the home team's side. 

Carroll grabbed the lead in overtime as Sljivancanin went to work on the block. The sophomore Serbian muscled his way inside and then corralled one of his game-high 13 rebounds for a putback plus an and-one free throw. 

Carroll built their two-possession lead and held on the rest of the way.  

Sljivancanin had a game-high 25 points and 13 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the season, to lead all scorers. 

The Saints received 23 points from Warp and a career-high 19 points, six rebounds and four assists from Flowers III. 

Campbell added in 10 points and a season-high six assists. 

The Orediggers were led by Sindou Diallo's 20 points. 

Paulson played eight Saints on Tuesday and all but one scored. 

"I thought our kids did an amazing job of handling the pressure they put on us," Paulson said. "These guys beat University of Montana just a couple of weeks ago. They put so much pressure on you and we just handled it. Couldn't be more proud of their effort." 

For a team that was supposed to experience some growing pains, the Fighting Saints showed their poise on Tuesday. 

Next up, is another stiff test against undefeated No. 14-ranked Lewis-Clark State on Friday.