The Official Site of the Fighting Saints

HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll Men's Basketball team were firing on all cylinders on Friday night, exploding for a 105-83 win over Bismarck State in their 2025-26 Frontier home opener at the CC PE Center.

It's been over a month since the Fighting Saints suited up for a game on their home floor, and they did not disappoint on Friday night as a full team effort led to their first 100-point game since February 13.

A quick glance at the box score might not suggest it, but the first 12 minutes of the game was very tightly-contested. The Saints grabbed a quick early lead, but the Mystics responded with quick buckets of their own in transition, leading to things knotted up at 24-24 with just over eight minutes remaining in the half.

In the blink of an eye, the Saints broke the game wide open.

Carroll went on a 16-0 run over the next three minutes of action, spurred by smooth passing, solid defense and several second chance buckets to help take complete control. The Saints' lead would grow to as large as 26 points in the opening frame, as Drew Jones (Puyallup, Wash. / FR) scored 15 points on a 5-6 effort from the floor while going 3-3 from deep, and Kellen Harrison (Bozeman, Mont. / SO) scored 12 more. Lorence Dela Cruz (Winnipeg, Manitoba / SR) was a menace in the first half, coming away with five steals in addition to eight points.

A strong start to the second half would see the Carroll lead balloon to as large as 34 points, affording Head Coach Dan Pearson the luxury of dipping into his bench. 12 different Saints would see at least five minutes of game time in the second half, including the Carroll debut of Helena native Tevin Wetzel (Helena, Mont. / FR). Wetzel knocked down a pair of triples, matching Gavin Gross (Portland, Ore. / FR) with six second half points, while Josiah Cuaresma led the Saints in the second frame with seven points and three steals.

Six Saints scored 10 or more points, led by Jones' second-straight 21-point performance. The freshman, who's come on as of late, was a perfect 5-5 from three-point range in the win.

Nate Christy (Spokane, Wash. / FR) came up just two boards shy of a double-double, finishing with 10 points and team-high eight rebounds, while Dela Cruz capped his impressive night with 10 points, six steals, and a team-high five assists.

The Saints were highly-efficient from range, shooting 57 percent as a team from beyond the arc (15-26), while going 58 percent from the field (40-69). In total, Carroll finished with 44 points off the bench, and scored 30 points off of Mystic turnovers.

Carroll will look to make it seven-straight wins to start Frontier play for the first time in program history tomorrow night, as they host Dickinson State at 7 p.m.