HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll Men's Basketball team put an emphatic close on their Frontier Conference regular season on Saturday, beating MSU-Northern 87-78 in front of a great crowd at the Carroll College PE Center.

The Fighting Saints (18-10, 12-3) closed out a great run in the back half of 2023-24, earning a season sweep over the Lights (11-17, 3-12) with a nine-point victory in the season finale.

Things were all Carroll early in the game. The Saints jumped out to an early 14-4 lead, capped with a thunderous one-handed jam by Andrew Cook (Huntington Beach, Calif.). Carroll would grow a first half lead of as large as 13 points, but a resilient MSU-Northern team would not cave. The Lights battled back near the end of the frame, cutting the Carroll lead to just seven at the break, 40-33.

Carroll was highly efficient from the floor in the first half, shooting 52 percent from the field as a team, and out-rebounding the Lights 20-11 in the frame. Kendall Moore (Dayton, Ohio / JR) knocked down a pair of threes on his way to an 11 point first half to lead the Saints.

The Lights would cut the lead to as little as five points early in the second half, but Carroll stood their ground. The Saints would stretch their advantage to a game-high 14 points several times over the course of the frame.

The pace of the game slowed to a near stand-still in the midway point of the second half as officials tightened up and blew the whistle nearly every possession. The Saints managed to hold momentum long enough, and found a way to close out the nine point win.

The win gives Carroll a season sweep over every team in the Frontier Conference below them in the standings, a handsome feat considering where the league's coaches picked Carroll to finish at the beginning of the year (No. 5).

Senior Jordan Bryant (Sacramento, Calif.) got the start in his final home game on the Hilltop, and made the most of his minutes. Bryant scored the game's opening basket, and finished with a season-high eight points.

Andrew Cook and Kendall Moore each poured in 21 points to lead the Saints in scoring, while Derek Kramer (Bellevue, Wash. / SO) had another impressive outing with 11 points and 5 boards.

Zackry Martinez went 4-11 from three, leading Northern with 21 points in the loss.

The Saints finish the season with the No. 2 spot in Frontier play, and will wait to find out their opponent following Thursday's opening round play. The Men will play the highest remaining seed at 3 p.m. on Friday at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.

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