BUTTE, Mont. - The Carroll Men's Basketball team dropped a hard-fought first game of the Comfort Inn Fall Classic to No. 22-ranked Lewis-Clark State at the HPER Complex on Friday evening.

The Fighting Saints (2-4) battled for 40 minutes in their first game away from the PE Center this season, ultimately coming up short against the No. 22 Warriors (4-0).

LC State came out of the gates hot, knocking down each of their first four shots of the game to build an early lead, but the Saints would ease back into the game behind Isaiah Crane's (Portland, Ore. / R-FR) 11 first half points. 

The Warriors built a first half lead as large as 10 points, but Carroll kept chipping away, eventually tying things up at 36-36. The Warriors found a couple of transition layups in the final minute, taking a 40-36 lead into the break.

Lorence De La Cruz (Winnipeg, Manitoba / JR) scored eight second half points off the bench, and James Lang (Portland, Ore. / R-JR) scored nine of his 14 total points in the final frame, but Carroll couldn't quite finish the job. With around six minutes remaining, Carroll held a 66-64 lead, but a seven-point Warrior run over the next minute would put LC State on top for good

LC State out-rebounded Carroll 15-11 in the second half, while shooting 14-24 from the field (58.3 percent) to help close out the neutral site win.

Five Saints finished with double-digit points, led by Isaiah Crane's 16-point performance.

Alton Hamilton led the Warriors with an impressive game-high 25-point outing, while Taden King added 16 points behind him.

The Saints will turn their attention towards a 5:30 p.m. matchup with Cal-Maritime tomorrow evening, as they look to snap a four-game skid.

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

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