Men's Basketball | 02/26/23 | 9:43 AM

GREAT FALLS, Mont. - The Carroll College Men's Basketball team will begin their quest for a Frontier Conference tournament title this evening when they take on Rocky Mountain College at 5 p.m. at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls, Mont.

The No. 4 seed Fighting Saints (13-13, 7-8) open up play at the 2023 Frontier Conference Championship with the No. 5 seed Rocky Mountain College (14-13, 6-9).

The two teams have played three times on the season, twice in Helena and once in Billings, with the Saints coming away victorious in all three contests. Two of the three wins have been one-sided in favor of the Saints, while the January 26 matchup in Helena was decided by only six points.

Dating back to 2019, Carroll is 12-2 in the last 14 games against the Battlin' Bears, winners of the last five straight, and aim to continue that trend this evening.

Beating a singular team four times in one season is no easy task, and not one that the Saints are taking lightly. Everyone in the Frontier Conference has the ability to beat any other team, as evidenced by this season, on any given night.

Carroll enters the game with the No. 2 and No. 3 scorers in the Frontier Conference. Andrew Cook (Huntington Beach, Calif. / SO) is second in the league, averaging 19.2 points per game. Jonny Hillman (Post Falls, Idaho / SR) is right behind him with 14.9 points per game. Brendan Temple (Castle Rock, Colo. / SR) leads the conference in rebounds per game (7.6).

On the other side, Rocky's Maxim Stephens is fifth in the conference in both points per game (13.7) and rebounds per game (6.6). 

89 has been the magic number for the Saints in their last two games. In both of Carroll's final two regular season games they scored 89 points in the winning efforts. Will we see a third today?

Winning the board battle will be key to tonight's game, in Carroll's six point win over the Bears in January they were heavily out-rebounded (RMC 35, CC 18). If Carroll can win the rebounding margin, they will likely find themselves advancing to the next round.

Tonight's game will be streamed live HERE, and live stats can be followed along HERE. SWX will have the broadcast of tonight's contest throughout Montana. Voice of the Saints, Nick Dietzen, and Gary Turcott will once again call the action live on Rewind 94.9 FM or online HERE.

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