HELENA, Mont. -- How else was Senior Night supposed to go? 

The lone senior Dane Warp eclipsed 1,500 points and the No. 17-ranked Carroll College grinded out a gutsy win against a pesky Montana State-Northern, 89-81, on Friday night in the PE Center.

"The guys didn't give up," Saints coach Kurt Paulson said. "It wasn't looking very good. Northern was fresh.  They had fresh legs in the first half. I thought our guys were competing, but we just weren't up on the shooters like we needed to be."

The Saints trailed 33-24 at halftime as they struggled to find quality shots from the field. Carroll shot 39% from the field in the first half, while Northern shot 54%, including 60% from deep.

Carroll found the answer in the second half, changing its defensive scheme to great success.

"We went to a 1-3-1 to mix it up in the second half, changed the momentum," Paulson said. "Down the stretch we went on a run and made our free throws and staved them off."

It only took 10 minutes before the Saints knotted the score at 40-40 thanks to their 16-7 run. Northern responded with another run before the Saints, again, tied the game at 50-50 with five minutes left. 

A 13-0 run gave the Saints a six-point lead with 1:45 left.

The Saints withstood Northern's best blow and sent their senior, who led the game with 20 points, out of the PE Center in style on Friday. 

 "I thought Dane facilitated from the high post and got some downhill drives and found some guys," Paulson said. "He got such a nice ovation from the crowd. I hope these people around the Helena community know how special he is. He played tremendous tonight. He got us some tough buckets. All year long, he led these young guys." 

Ifeanyi Okeke added in 19 points and nine rebounds, while Dennis Flowers III also added in 12 points. 

The win cements a 22-8 regular season record, including a 13-5 mark in the Frontier Conference. The Saints are the No. 2 seed in the Frontier Conference postseason and will face Rocky Mountain College on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the PE Center.