HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll Men's Basketball team held off a late comeback attempt by No. 15-ranked Montana Tech, securing a 59-58 win on Saturday evening at the Carroll College PE Center.

The Fighting Saints (12-14, 7-6) have battled their way back into the 2024-25 Frontier Conference title chase after an 0-3 start to conference play, grabbing a pair of games back on the week with wins over conference leaders Providence and Montana Tech.

Saturday's game in the PE Center was a near complete 180 from Thursday's win at Providence in which the Saints posted the highest point-total in the Frontier Conference this season.

The game started at a snail's pace offensively, with both teams struggling to get much of anything going. Midway through the opening quarter, an Isaiah Crane (Portland, Ore. / R-FR) layup would give Carroll an eight point lead at just 15-7.

Carroll controlled the game throughout the first half, leading from buzzer to buzzer in the frame, and by as many as 10 points late. A dunk by Tech's Rhett Reynolds late in the half would send the game into the break with Carroll in front, 28-21.

The Saints went just 9-23 from the floor in the period (39 percent), but converted all six of their attempts at the stripe. Crane and Derek Kramer (Bellevue, Wash. / JR) combined for 15 points in the opening 20 minutes, and Carroll held a sizable 18-12 advantage in the rebounding category.

The Orediggers began the second half on an 8-0 run over the first two minutes, grabbing their first lead of the game with 18:00 to play. The teams would exchange the lead a couple of times leading up to the 10:00 minute mark where Tech held a three-point lead at 45-42.

Kellen Harrison (Bozeman, Mont. / FR) knocked down a three-pointer with 9:25 left, kick-starting a mini-run for the Saints to help put them back in front by five, and more importantly, a lead they would not surrender.

Several times over the final five minutes, Tech would trim the lead to as little as one point, but a resilient group of Saints would always find a way to answer. Isaiah Crane hit the biggest shot of the game with around two minutes remaining. The Frontier's leading scorer buried a three from the top of the arc to give the Saints a two-score cushion at 55-51.

Some shaky fre throw shooting in the closing seconds, paired with Tech twos on the other end would make things tight in the closing moments. An intentionally-missed free throw by the Saints would fall to the Orediggers on the rebound, and Tech would get one final shot, trialing by one with just a couple of seconds remaining.

Levi Torgerson heaved a shot from inside the half court line as time expired, hitting iron and the Saints would escape with the one-point win.

Crane led all scorers, finishing with 16 points and four rebounds. Kramer was the lone other Saint to score in double figures, finishing his night with 12 points and five rebounds after getting into foul trouble early.

Keeley bake led the Orediggers with 14 points, while Ifeanyi Okeke had 11 points and seven boards, and Hayden Diekhans scored 10 with nine rebounds.

All said and done, the Saints shot 44 percent from the floor (19-43) while going 7-17 from three (41 percent). Carroll's 14 turnovers were their most in the last four games.

The win marks Carroll's first in the series since January of 2023, and pulls them within striking distance of a potential share of the Frontier title. Five teams are separated by just one game heading into the final week of the regular season. Providence and Montana Tech are currently tied in first with an 8-5 mark in conference play, while Carroll, Rocky, and Western all sit at 7-6.

The potential for a multi-team shared crown exists, and it all starts with a Thursday night home game against Rocky at 7 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.

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