Men's Basketball | 01/23/25 | 10:52 PM

Box Score HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll Men's Basketball team got their Frontier Conference record back to an even .500 after an 0-3 start in league play, beating Montana Western 86-78 at the Carroll College PE Center on Thursday evening.

They say three in-a-row qualify it as a win-streak, and the Fighting Saints' (8-11, 3-3) 86-78 win over the Bulldogs (10-9, 2-4) now makes three impressive wins in their first "official" win-streak of the season.

The opening 20 minutes was a closely contested affair. Isaiah Moore (Fairfield, Calif. / JR) opened the scoring on the evening with a three-pointer following his return to the starting five, but Western would respond with five quick points of their own.

Neither team created much separation in the first half, trading the lead back-and-forth several times. Carroll's largest lead (six points) came at the very tail-end of the half, while Western's biggest lead was a very quick three points just past the midway point of the frame.

The Saints ended the half with a 6-0 run over the final two minutes, carrying a 38-32 lead into the halftime break for just the sixth time this season.

Western's Kyle Gruhler, the key piece in the Bulldogs' win in the last meeting between the two schools, was on fire again early. The junior scored 15 points on 4-6 shooting, while teammate Abi Adedo added 10.

Carroll's offensive output was a little more balanced, with eight different players in the scoring column, led by Isaiah Moore's 10 points. Derek Kramer (Bellevue, Wash. / JR) pulled down eight first half rebounds, helping give Carroll a 24-17 edge on the glass.

The Saints would extend their lead to eight points on three separate occasions over the first 10 minutes of the second half, but by the eight-minute mark, Western would cut the lead to just three on an Alan Kane layup. That would be all the closer the Bulldogs would get, as Carroll proceeded to embark on a 16-3 over the next six minutes to put the game out of reach.

Western did everything they could to make it a game over the final two minutes, extending the game with a slew of fouls to force Carroll into a free throw contest to close it out. Some transition three's would put a little pressure on Carroll in the waning minutes, but 12 made free throws over the final 2:30 would seal the third-straight win for the Purple and Gold, 86-78.

An undersized Carroll team won the rebounding battle, 39-30, while the Saints put together their sixth game of the year shooting 50 percent or better from the field (31-58, 53.4 percent).

Reigning Frontier Offensive Player of the Week Isaiah Crane (Portland, Ore. / R-FR) went 11-15 from the stripe, as he led the Saints in scoring with 19 points while pulling down six rebounds.

Kramer finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Lorence Dela Cruz (Winnipeg, Manitoba / JR) had a nice outing off the bench with 12 points, four assists, four rebounds and a pair of steals.

Carroll did well to slow down Gruhler in the second half, but the junior still led all scorers with 24 points in the loss for the Bulldogs.

Up next, the Saints will look to make a push for third in the Frontier standings, as they head to Providence on Saturday afternoon aiming to even the season series.

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

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