HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll Men's Basketball team grabbed a season-opening victory over Bushnell, 95-86, on Friday afternoon in front of their home crowd at the CC PE Center.

The Fighting Saints (1-0) made the first game of the Dan Pearson era a memorable one, battling back from a halftime deficit to earn a nine-point win over the Beacons (0-1) in the first game of Carroll's annual Comfort Suites Classic.

The new-look Saints found their first points of the season on a Derek Kramer (Bellevue, Wash. / JR) tip-in just 30 seconds into the opener, and the 2024-25 season was officially underway.

Smaller across the board than some of the Carroll teams in recent memory, this year's version of the Fighting Saints more than made up for the lack of height with a high-intensity, full-court attack. Not afraid to get in a shootout, Carroll wasted little time moving into the front court each possession in the first half. 

The Saints raced out to a quick six-point lead, but Bushnell would fight right back and take the lead for the majority of the first frame. Twice the Beacons stretched their lead to as much as nine points in the first ten minutes, before the Saints would respond.

A back-and-forth first half saw both teams exchange the lead several times, while each side looked to find an early rhythm. All said and done, Bushnell would enter the halftime break with a 45-40 lead.

Isaiah Crane (Portland, Ore. / R-FR) impressed in the opening 20, as the talented guard paced all players with 14 points. All eight Carroll players who saw the court scored in the first half.

Bushnell out-shot and out-rebounded the Saints in the first frame, in particular on the offensive glass (BU - 9 Oreb, CC - 5 Oreb).

Following the under-14 media timeout in the second half, the Saints regained the lead and never looked back.

James Lang (Portland, Ore. / R-JR) and newcomer Isaac Round (Southampton, England / FR) both caught fire from the field in the second half to propel the Carroll comeback. Lang went 6-9 from the floor, including 3-4 from deep in a 19-point second half effort, while Round went 4-5 from the field, adding 14 points of his own.

Bushnell would try to make it a game late, but the Saints handled the press late and held on for their first win of the season, 95-86.

Lang led all scorers, finishing with 25 points while pulling down seven rebounds. Isaiah Crane added 23 and five before fouling out.

Derek Kramer, the lone big man on the court for the Saints played well, finishing with 11 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

Ashton Harvey led the Beacons with an 18 point effort, followed by Squeeky Johnson's 13 points in the loss.

Up next, the Saints will take on No. 16 Oregon Tech in the second game of the Comfort Suites Classic, with a scheduled tip-off time of 7:30 p.m.

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

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