HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll Men's Basketball team dropped a Saturday afternoon non-conference game to Northwest (Wash.) at Carroll College PE Center, 82-73.

A back-and-forth battle saw the Fighting Saints (3-8) succumb to a late game run from the Eagles (2-7) to drop their fourth straight game of the season.

Carroll looked sharp in the early portion of Saturday afternoon's matinee, building up an eight-point advantage over the first five minutes of the game with the offense moving the ball around and scorers finding space in the paint to work.

Northwest battled back around the midway point of the opening half, eventually taking the lead on an Ethan Martin three-pointer with nine minutes remaining in the half. The teams went on to exchange the lead several different times throughout the opening stanza, but the game would ultimately head into the halftime break tied at 38 following a late half bucket from Isaiah Crane (Portland, Ore. / R-FR).

Both Crane and Lorence Dela Cruz (Winnipeg, Manitoba / JR) would post double digit scoring figures in the opening half (Crane - 10, Dela Cruz - 11) to lead the Saints.

The majority of the game's second half would play out much like the first, with both teams battling and exchanging the lead numerous times over the first 14 minutes of the second.

From the six-minute mark to the four-minute mark, the Eagles would go on an 11-0 run, aided by several Carroll turnovers and missed opportunities to break the game open. Several times over the final four minutes of the game, the Saints would trim the lead to as little as five points, but Carroll could never quite string together stops and Northwest would walk away with the 10-point win with excellent free throw shooting down the stretch.

The Eagles dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Saints 36-27 on the afternoon.

Crane led the Saints in scoring, finishing with a game-high 20 points to go along with four rebounds and a pair of assists.

Dela Cruz had his best showing in the Purple and Gold, finishing with 14 points, two rebounds, and two assists.

Five different players on Northwest posted double-digits, led by big man Tasson Aubry-Thomas' team-high 18 point, 16 rebound double-double. Three players scored 10 or more off the bench for the Eagles, including 15 points from Trent Williams.

Carroll will return to action on December 29, hosting Keyano College (Can.) at 4 p.m. in the PE Center.

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

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