ABERDEEN, S.D. - The No. 16 Carroll Men's Basketball team dropped their opening game at the Small College Basketball Champions Classic to Morningside, 72-54. 

Carroll (3-1), unable to keep an offensive rhythm in the final minutes, lost its first game of the season on Friday, falling to Morningside in their first game of the SCB Champions Classic.

The Saints had a slow start to their opening SBC matchup, with Morningside jumping out to a quick five point lead to start the game. The Mustangs would take a 23-14 lead midway through the first half.

Carroll would cut the Morningside lead to six, but a strong finish to the half by the Mustangs would give them a 37-24 lead heading into the break.

The Mustangs would nearly double the efficiency of the Saints in the first half, shooting 59.3 percent from the field compared to Carroll's 32.3 percent.

Andrew Cook (Huntington Beach, Calif. / SO) did the majority of the heavy lifting for the Saints, scoring 10 points in the half.

Morningside would extend their lead to 17 points coming out of the halftime break.

The Saints went on a run midway through the half, going on a 10-point run and cutting the Mustang lead to just five points at the midway point.

Carroll would narrow the lead to just four points with seven minutes remaining, but went cold in the late stages of the game, ultimately falling 72-54.

Andrew Cook led the Saints in scoring and rebounding, finishing with 18 points and eight boards. Brendan Temple (Castle Rock, Colo. / SR) finished with 13 points, six rebounds, and a block.

The Mustangs were led by Joey Skoff, and Ely Doble, who both finished with a game-high 19 points.

Carroll had a poor night shooting, finishing just 34.4 percent from the field on the day.

The Saints will look to bounce back tomorrow as they play Dakota Wesleyan to wrap up their weekend in South Dakota at 3 p.m. (MST)

Visit www.carrollathletics.com for a full recap of the action, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.