CHANDLER, Ariz. - The No. 24 Carroll Men's Basketball team came up just short of a win in their second game of the 2022 Cactus Classic, falling to (RV) Olivet Nazarene 91-86 on Sunday in Arizona.

Carroll (7-4, 1-1) and Olivet Nazarene (10-3) battled in what has been one of the most competitive and tightly-contested games of the 2022 Cactus Classic.

The Fighting Saints came out of the gate locked-in, executing on offense and playing with intensity. The Saints would jump out to a 12-point lead, their largest at any point of the game, midway through the first half on an Andrew Cook (Huntington Beach, Calif. / SO) steal and dunk. 

The Tigers would not back down, however, and continued to chip away at the Carroll lead. Olivet Nazarene would eventually narrow the gap to just two points, but a Brayden Koch (Helena, Mont. / FR) three pointer at the end of the half would give the Saints a 48-43 lead heading into the halftime break.

Both teams shot the ball at 50 percent or greater in the first half (Carroll 56.5, ONU 50), and each team had nine assists at the break.

The second half would prove to be a slugfest, with both teams playing fast and physical. Carroll would stretch their lead back to seven points early in the half, but the Tigers would come roaring back midway through the second half to take their first lead since the opening minutes. 

The teams would continue to trade buckets for the remainder of the game, with 15 lead changes in total. Neither team would be able to extend a lead larger than three points until the final seconds of the game.

With eight seconds remaining in the game Derek Kramer (Bellevue, Wash. / FR) would have a look at the rim in heavy traffic, but would be blocked and the Saints were unable to recover the rebound. A quick foul would send the Tigers to the line where they would make both free throws to finish the game 91-85.

The Saints would finish with more rebounds (CC 23, ONU 22), blocks (CC 3, ONU 2) and steals (CC 5, ONU 3), as well as fewer turnovers (CC 7, ONU 10), but could not string together defensive stops in the second half. Olivet Nazarene shot an extremely impressive 69 percent from the field in the second frame.

Carroll was again led by Andrew Cook, who finished tied for a game-high 24 points with Olivet Nazarene's Sam Emich.

Brendan Temple (Castle Rock, Colo. / SR) had a strong performance, finishing with 20 points and eight rebounds. 

Isaiah Moore (Fairfield, Calif. / FR) and Garrett Long (Wenatchee, Wash. / SO) finished with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Another tough matchup awaits the Saints on Monday when they face off with Menlo at 4 p.m. MST for their third game of the Cactus Classic.

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