CHANDLER, Ariz. - The No. 24 Carroll Men's Basketball Team dropped their opening game of the Cactus Classic, falling to Ottawa (Ariz.) 86-58 on Saturday.

The Fighting Saints (7-3, 1-1) could not overcome their own mistakes on Saturday, losing a turnover-plagued contest to Ottawa (9-4).

After a back-and-forth start, a physical and fast-paced middle of the first half saw the Saints go stagnant.

Despite finishing the half shooting 46 percent from the field as a team, Carroll would find themselves in a hole. The Spirit went on a 19-3 run to take a 41-25 lead with just under three minutes left in the opening frame. Carroll would buckle down, however, making a late push to cut the Spirit lead to 13 at the break, 45-32.
 
Carroll's offense revolved around Andrew Cook (Huntington Beach, Calif. / SO) in the first half. The Sophomore was all over the court, scoring 17 of his team-high 23 points in the first half.

The Saints would make a run early in the second half. A Jordan Bryant (Carmichael, Calif. / JR) bucket would cut the lead to single digits at nine points, but Carroll would be unable to chip away any further.

Ottawa would go on a 22-8 run over the final eight minutes of the half to close the door on any sort of a Carroll comeback.

As previously mentioned, Andrew Cook led Carroll in scoring with 23 points. Derek Kramer, making his first start of the season finished with eight rebounds and five points. 

Ottawa scored 25 points off of 18 Carroll turnovers, and out-rebounded the Saints 30-27.

Four Ottawa players finished in double-digits scoring, led by Josiah DeLa'Cerda's 19 points.

The Saints will look to rebound tomorrow on day two of the Cactus Classic, when they take on Olivet Nazarene at 4 p.m. 

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