DILLON, Mont. - The Carroll College Men's Basketball team snapped a two-game skid, earning a hard fought 85-81 win at Montana Western on Thursday night in Dillon.

The Fighting Saints (9-9, 3-4) clawed back to .500 on the year, erasing an early deficit and holding off a late Montana Western (8-12, 3-4) push en route to an 85-81 win.

Things looked bleak from the get-go for the Saints. Montana Western opened the game on a quick 9-0 run, forcing Carroll to dig out of a hole yet again. 

After the slow start, however, Carroll would stay within striking distance through the midway point of the opening half. Near the four minute mark, Carroll would make their move. The Saints would use a 15-3 run over the final four minutes to carry a 49-39 lead into the break.

Andrew Cook (Huntington Beach, Calif. / SO) and Brendan Temple (Castle Rock, Colo / SR) were dominant in the opening period, with Cook scoring 17 points and Temple accruing nine first half rebounds.

The Bulldogs would whittle the Carroll lead to just three points early in the second half before a timely timeout was called by Head Coach Kurt Paulson. The Saints would switch things up and go on to extend their lead to as much as 15 points with just over five minutes remaining in the game. 

A flurry of Carroll misses and turnovers, paired with some hot shooting from the Bulldogs would see the Saints lead dwindle to just two points with under a minute left, but Cook was able to bury six consecutive free throws in crunch time to close the door on a Western comeback attempt.

Cook would finish the game with 31 points, leading all scorers and willing his team to victory. Brendan Temple posted yet another double-double, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Gui Pedra finished 4-5 from three point range, including 4-4 in the first half to finish with 14 points.

Jamal Stephenson, one of four Bulldogs to post double-digit points, had a terrific showing, finishing with 26 points.

Carroll will shift focus towards a rivalry matchup with Frontier-leading Montana Tech on Saturday at the Carroll College PE Center at 4 p.m.

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