CHANDLER, Ariz. - The No. 24 Carroll Men's Basketball team finished the 2022 Cactus Classic with a 72-78 loss to Vanguard on Tuesday in Chandler, Ariz.

Carroll (7-6, 1-1), playing their fourth game in as many days, could not quite finish the fight against Vanguard (7-5) on Tuesday, dropping the final game of the Cactus Classic 72-78.

The Fighting Saints got off to a much quicker start than their previous outing, trading baskets with Vanguard early in the first half. Carroll would, however, find itself in a first half hole once again. The Lions would take advantage of some poor shooting from the Saints to race out to a 14 point advantage with just under six minutes remaining in the half. 

Carroll would tighten things up on the defensive front and battle for some late-half buckets to bring the score to 36-30 in favor of Vanguard heading into halftime.

The Saints would come out of the break focused on cutting into the Lions lead, and with 15 minutes left in the half Andrew Cook (Huntington Beach, Calif. / SO) would bury a three pointer to even things up at 44-44. A backdoor cut from Cook led to a rim-rocking dunk just a couple of plays later, and Carroll would take a 50-46 advantage midway through the half.

Neither team was able to pull away in the later stages of the game. Vanguard continued to make shots at a high clip and extended their lead to seven points with just over three minutes remaining in the game, and the Saints would not be able to overcome the deficit.

Andrew Cook wrapped up a tremendous tournament with a team-high 23 points to go with three rebounds. Brayden Koch (Helena, Mont. / FR) made several clutch three pointers en route to a 13 point, four rebound performance. 

Garrett Long (Wenatchee, Wash. / SO) came near a double-double, scoring 10 and pulling down eight rebounds.

Four Vanguard players scored in double-digits, led by Garrett White's 23 points.

The two teams will meet again at the Westmont Classic next Friday, after Carroll plays host-school Westmont on Thursday, December 29.

Visit www.carrollathletics.com for a preview of that event, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.