HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll Men's Basketball team needed some late-game heroics to overcome a second-half comeback by Montana Western, but managed to escape Thursday unscathed in Frontier play, winning 75-73.

The Fighting Saints (8-7, 2-0) are above .500 for the first time this season after overcoming a physical Bulldog (8-6, 1-1) squad in a Frontier Conference instant classic that will not soon be forgotten by those in attendance.

With temperatures in double-digit negatives at tip-off, Western's offense was nearly as cold through the first six minutes. Carroll opened the game on a 13-2 run as the Bulldogs went just 1-9 from the field to start.

The Carroll lead would hover around 10 points for the remainder of the half, with the Saints' largest lead coming off a James Lang (Portland, Ore. / R-SO) put-back at 14 points. Western would narrow the lead to seven points, but a jumper from Lang near the horn at the end of the half would give Carroll a 37-28 lead heading into the break.

Coming out of halftime, it was Carroll who couldn't get things moving. A quick 10-0 by the Bulldogs in the first two minutes of the second half would give Western their first lead of the game, 38-37.

The teams would exchange the lead several times over the next few minutes, but the Bulldogs would begin to pull away near the midway mark of the half. Suddenly, the Saints found themselves trailing by seven points with under nine minutes remaining.

Zane Foster (Puyallup, Wash. / JR) blocks, and Andrew Cook (Huntington Beach, Calif. / JR) points over the next several minutes would flip the score back in favor of the Saints, and Carroll would hold a lead until the final two minutes.

With just two minutes remaining, the teams would exchange a series of lead-changing buckets, until Carroll found a huge defensive stop with less than 60 seconds to play. Cook would capitalize on the stop, and give Carroll a three-point lead, 73-70.

A costly Carroll turnover with around 20 seconds remaining would turn into a deep fast-break three pointer by Quincy Taylor to tie the game at 73 apiece.

With a chance to win the game, Kendall Moore took the ball the length of the court, stopped on the right block, spun, and floated a jumper over the outstretched arms of the Western defender. In near perfect harmony the ball fell through the net and the scoreboard lit up red, with 0.00 on the clock, and 75-73 on the board.

"I wanted the ball in my hands." Said Moore. "I wanted to get to the hole, but their big had cut me off. I've been working on my stride-step for numerous years, so I was confident in the shot off the spin."

Moore finished with 19 points, two of which he'll remember for a very long time.

Andrew Cook led all-scorers, finishing with 21 points, four rebounds, and two steals. Zane Foster added another five blocks to his season tally, giving him 36 on the year, while James Lang nearly posted a double-double, finishing his night with 10 rebounds and nine points.

Western's Jalyn Stepney led his team with 20 points and five rebounds.

The Carroll Men will look to topple Montana Tech on Saturday in Helena, as the last two unbeatens in Frontier play matchup for the first time this season.

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