BUTTE, Mont. - The Carroll Men's Basketball team couldn't seem to dig out from an early hole, falling 90-66 to No. 11 Montana Tech on Thursday evening.

The Fighting Saints (12-9. 6-2) saw the game slip away from them early on, and couldn't quite get things rolling against the Orediggers (17-4, 7-1) in the second meeting between the two teams this season.

Tech came out of the gates hot, jumping out to a 20-5 lead by the first media timeout of the game. By the time Carroll's offense started to wake up, seemingly every basket would be matched by the Orediggers, and the lead would hover in the high-teens for the majority of the first half.

Three quick fouls called on Zane Foster (Puyallup, Wash. / JR) forced Coach Lundgren to turn to his bench quicker than anticipated, and the Saints were out of sorts for the majority of the opening half. 

A hot shooting period from the Orediggers (22-37, 59%) would see them carry a 51-30 lead into the halftime break.

After regrouping, Carroll would make a run to begin the second half. Gui Pedra (Sao Paulo, Brazil / SR) hit a three-pointer at the 15-minute mark to narrow the lead to 13, but unfortunately for the Saints, that is as close as it would get.

Another strong shooting frame from the Orediggers (12-24, 50%) would close the door on any sort of Carroll comeback, and Montana Tech would run away with the 90-66 win.

Three Orediggers posted double-digit point totals, led by Asa Williams' 23 points and seven rebounds.

Andrew Cook (Huntington Beach, Calif. / JR) finished with team-highs of 20 points and seven boards, while Kendall Moore (Dayton, Ohio / JR) added 15 points for the Saints.

The loss moves Carroll into second place in the Frontier Conference standings, trailing Montana Tech by one game.

Carroll will look to quickly wipe the lopsided defeat from their minds, and turn all attention towards a critical matchup with Rocky Mountain College at 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Carroll College 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.