DILLON, Mont. – The Carroll College Men's Basketball team picked up a gritty road win over Montana Western, 81-74 on Thursday evening in Dillon.
 
The Fighting Saints (11-8, 5-1) buckled down in a second-half comeback effort to upend the Bulldogs (9-10, 2-4) in the second meeting between the teams this season.
The Saints showed tremendous resiliency all night, starting early in the first half. Midway through the frame, a pair of Quincy Taylor free throws gave the Bulldogs a nine-point lead, their largest of the game, and Carroll would be forced to respond.
 
Andrew Cook (Huntington Beach, Calif. / JR) sparked a Carroll run, and Shaheed Muhammad (Arbor Hills, Minn. / JR) added some big three-point shots off the bench, and Carroll would storm back to nab a two-point lead with little time left in the half.
 
A pair of Bulldog free throws following a technical foul would even the score at the break, 36-36.
 
Western came out of the halftime break firing. Once again, the Bulldog lead ballooned to nine points, and Carroll would be put to the test.
 
With just over nine minutes remaining in the game, Cook would give the Saints their first lead of the half, and the teams would battle for the lead for the next several minutes.
 
Cook would go on a 5-0 run under five minutes to go to put some distance between the teams near the three-minute mark.
 
Gui Pedra (Sao Paolo, Brazil / SR) emphatically slammed home a dunk off a great outlet pass from Kendall Moore (Dayton, Ohio / JR) with 30 seconds remaining to put Carroll up by 10.
 
A nervy series of events would unfold, and Western would narrow the lead to just four points with 15 seconds remaining, but some clutch free throws by Moore would put the game on ice.
 
Few players in the country have been as hot as Andrew Cook over the last two weeks. The reigning Frontier Player of the Week posted a monster double-double with 27 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Kendall Moore added 15 points and five rebounds, and Murat Guzelocak (Istanbul, Turkey / SR) had a great game off the bench with eight points, three boards and three assists.
 
Jalyn Stepney led the Bulldogs with 16 points in the loss.
 
Carroll will shift focus towards a Saturday rematch with Providence at 4 p.m. in the Carroll PE Center.
 
Visit www.carrollathletics.com for a preview of that game, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.