HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll College Men's Basketball team dropped their second game in the last five days, falling 80-7- to No. 9 Montana Tech on Thursday evening at the Carroll College PE Center.

The Fighting Saints (8-13, 3-50 found themselves in an early hole, and never clawed their way out of it, dropping their second of three scheduled games against the No. 9 Orediggers (19-2, 7-1).

Tech came out of the gates quick on Thursday, jumping out to a 10-point lead over the first five minutes of the game while knocking down seven of their first eight shot attempts. Carroll would stop the bleeding, and start making some shots of their own, narrowing the Tech to as little as five points on four separate occasions over the next 12 minutes of the game.

A 10-2 run over the final three minutes of the half by the Orediggers would spell trouble for the Saints, however, and Tech brought a 45-32 lead into the halftime beak.

Brayden Koch was the only player to score in double-digits in the opening half, going 5-8 from the field for 13 points.

Carroll out-rebounded Tech 16-13 in the frame, but 10 first half turnovers would aid the Orediggers' advantage.

An Isaiah Crane (Portland, Ore. / R-FR) three-pointer would cut the Tech lead to seven points at the 15-minute mark of the second half, but the Orediggers would stretch their lead right back out to their largest margin of the night (16 points) by the midway point.

With five minutes left, Carroll would make a run, trimming the deficit to single digits, but the Saints couldn't string together stops and scores over the final five minutes of the game and Tech would walk out with a 10-point win, 80-70.

Crane led the Saints in scoring, finishing his night with 18 points, while Derek Kramer (Bellevue, Wash. / JR) was the only other Carroll player to post double-digits with 11 points and eight rebounds.

All said and done, Carroll won the rebounding battle 34-22, but lost six more turnovers than the Orediggers (18-12) while shooting worse from the floor (CC - 46.2 percent, Tech - 54.2 percent).

Koch led all players with 19 points, four assists and four steals.

Carroll will look to bounce back on Saturday, as they head to Billings for a clash with RV Rocky Mountain College at 4 p.m.

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

FOLLOW THE FIGHTING SAINTS
Facebook: @carrollcollegeathletics
Instagram: @cc_saints
X: @CCsaints
#MarchOn