LEWISTON, Idaho -- The Carroll College Men's Basketball team took down Arizona Christian, the top seed in their pod, on Saturday evening by a final score of 83-79. With the win, the Saints won Lewiston Bracket #2 of the NAIA National Basketball Tournament and punched their ticket to Kansas City.

This is Head Coach Kurt Paulson's third time clinching a trip to Kansas City in three years leading the Saints. In his first season at Carroll, his team finished as the National Runner-Up, and last season they were selected as an at-large bid before the tournament was canceled as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic. 

In the first half, it was Shamrock Campbell who took the game over for Carroll. Campell, a junior guard from Spokane, Wash., scored 20 first half points on a perfect 8-8 shooting. 

In a game that was an absolute nail-biter the whole way, the Saints went into half-time leading 39-35. 

Darius Goudeau, a senior forward from Mesa, Ariz., heated up in the second half to help ignite the offense for ACU. Goudeau finished the game with 21 points to lead the Firestorm, including six three-pointers.

Carroll, however, showed their true colors down the stretch. The Saints continued to make big play after big play to hold off Arizona Christian. A late Shamrock Campbell bucket, as the shot clock expired, put the Saints up 82-79. Arizona Christian went down and missed a potential game-tying three-pointer. Ifeanyi Okeke, a sophomore forward from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., stepped to the freethrow line and knocked one down to seal the victory 83-79.

Carroll will go into Kansas City as the 15 seed out of the remaining 16 teams. They will play next Friday at 7:15 p.m. CST against second seeded William Penn (Iowa).