BUTTE, Mont. - The No. 24 Carroll Men's Basketball team dropped a hard fought Top-25 Frontier Conference battle with No. 13 Montana Tech on Thursday, 79-86 in Butte, Mont.

Carroll (7-7, 1-2) and Montana Tech (14-2, 2-1) provided basketball fans with a back-and-forth game that came down to the final minute, where the Orediggers would eventually pull away for an 86-79 win. The Fighting Saints had their chances, but untimely turnovers, missed free throws, and a lack of defensive stops proved to be the deciding factor.

The game started out relatively slow for both teams, with Montana Tech holding a 17-15 lead with just under 13 minutes left in the half. The Orediggers would break the game open near the midway point of the half, and extend a lead as large as 11 points with under seven minutes remaining in the half. Carroll would play from behind, but some hot shooting from beyond the arc (77.8 percent) would spur a late half comeback to bring Carroll within four at the break, 39-43.

Brendan Temple (Castle Rock, Colo. / SR) picked up two quick fouls in the early minutes of the game. Carroll's Senior forward would remain on the court, his five points and seven first half rebounds kept the Saints within striking distance, and finished the half without accruing a third foul. 

A three-pointer from Brayden Koch (Helena, Mont. / SO) would tie the game at 45 apiece just two minutes into the second half, and a couple of possessions later Isaiah Moore (Fairfield, Calif. / FR) would add another three pointer to give Carroll their first lead since the early stages of the game.

The two teams would trade or tie the lead several times over the next six minutes before Montana Tech would go on a quick10-0 run to gain a 66-56 lead with ten minutes to play.

Carroll would trim the Oredigger lead to as little as three points with just over a minute remaining in the game, but an Asa Williams three point shot and some late free throws from Montana Tech would close out the Saints late push.

Brendan Temple posted yet another double-double, leading the Saints in both points (16) and rebounds (12). Jonny Hillman (Post Falls, Idaho / SR) scored 15 points, but was helped off of the floor due to injury in the second half. Andrew Cook (Huntington Beach, Calif. / SO) finished with 13 points.

Montana Tech had four players finish with double-digit points, lead by Asa Williams' game-high 21 points, followed by Caleb Bellach (19), Hayden Diekahns (18), and Keeley Bake (12).

Carroll out-rebounded Montana Tech 32-25, but the Orediggers would finish with a higher field goal percentage (MT - 50.9, CC - 48.3).

The Saints will look to rebound and get back to even in Frontier play as they travel to Rocky Mountain College on Saturday for a 4 p.m. matchup.

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