Men's Basketball | 03/21/21 | 12:15 AM
Box Score KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Carroll Men's Basketball team saw their run at the NAIA National Tournament come to an end in the round of eight on Saturday, falling to SAGU (Texas) by a final score of 73-65.
This loss marks the end of a historic season for Head Coach Kurt Paulson, and the Fighting Saints, in which they finished 20-8 and second in the Frontier Conference. A trip to the round of eight in the NAIA National Tournament marked the final accomplishment of this 2020-21 season.
In Saturday's game, Carroll had a strong first half in which they led 37-35 at the break. They shot 53% from the field through the first 20 minutes, behind 13 first half points from junior point guard Shamrock Campbell.
In the second half, SAGU really dialed in. The Lions were able to turn great defense into efficient offense. Over the course of the game, SAGU turned Carroll over 13 times, and finished 30 of 56 (53.6%) from the field on the offensive end.
The game was tied 62-62 with 3:48 left, before SAGU went on a 7-0 run to help put the game away. Carroll had chances to cut the deficit down the stretch, but the Lions were able to hold them off.
Jovan Sljivancanin, a junior forward from Belgrade, Serbia, put together a strong showing with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Shamrock Campbell also finished with 16 points.
SAGU was led by Joel Polius, a senior forward from Castries, St. Lucia, who strung together a monster performance with 27 points on 11 of 15 shooting and 10 rebounds.
The silver lining heading into the off-season for Carroll is that their roster had no seniors this year, so they will have all of their guys returning for next season.
