HAVRE, Mont. - The No. 23 Carroll College Men's Basketball team dropped their first conference game of the year on Saturday, losing a tightly contested game at MSU-Northern, 66-62.

The Fighting Saints (5-2, 1-1) could not quite get things going offensively on Saturday, losing a back-and-forth tight game at MSU-Northern (7-1, 1-1).

The early stages of the game were very close. Neither team was able to take much of an advantage, until near the midway point of the first half.

The Lights would grow their lead to nine points (27-18) with just over seven minutes left in the first half, before a 9-0 Carroll run would even things up once again.

A Derek Kramer (Bellevue, Wash. / FR) jumper in the final seconds of the half gave Carroll a 33-31 lead headed into the halftime break.

MSU-Northern would take a two point lead just one minute into the second half, and Carroll would be unable to regain the lead.

The Saints, playing from behind for nearly all of the second half, would be hot and cold in the second period.

MSU-Northern would grab a lead as large as nine points in final minutes, but Carroll refused to roll over.

Gui Pedra (Sao Paulo, Brazil / JR) and Brayden Koch (Helena, Mont. / FR) made a pair of big time three point shots, but Carroll, forced to repeatedly foul in an effort to stop the clock, would simply run out of time. The Lights would make a series of free throws and hold on for the 66-62 win.

Brendan Temple (Castle Rock, Colo. / SR) posted another double-double with a game-high 14 points and 11 rebounds. The majority of which came in the second half, (10 points, nine rebounds). Jonny Hillman (Post Falls, Idaho / SR) finished with 13 points.

MSU-Northern shot the ball well, going 54.3 percent from the field as a team for the game. They were led by Jesse Keltner's 14 points and Zackry Martinez's 12 point effort.

The Frontier Conference is a league filled with parity, and all six teams are currently tied at 1-1 in conference play.

The Saints will regroup and prepare for their annual Comfort Suites Classic, hosted at the PE Center in Helena next weekend. Carroll will play Bushnell on Friday evening and Corban on Saturday evening.

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