GREAT FALLS, Mont. - The Carroll College Men's Basketball team picked up the first postseason win under Head Coach Dan Pearson with a 72-60 victory over MSU-Northern in the opening round of the Frontier Conference Tournament at the Pacific Steel & Recycling Arena on Sunday.
The Fighting Saints (15-14, 9-6) entered the conference tournament as the hottest team in the league, and kept their winning ways rolling with their fourth win over the Lights this season to advance to the tournament semifinal.
Both teams were highly efficient from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, each shooting well better than their season averages.
Kellen Harrison (Bozeman, Mont. / FR) got things moving for the Saints early in the frame. Carroll's leading three-point threat was stellar, knocking down three early triples to help give Carroll an early lead. Not to be outdone, the Frontier's leading scorer,
Isaiah Crane (Portland, Ore. / R-FR) made his mark felt in a big way over the first 20. The gifted scorer converted on his first seven attempts from the floor, posting 15 first half points.
The Lights were equally as impressive, however, shooting 56 percent from the floor as a team, nearly 12 percent more than their season average. Cinque Maxwell and Raefe McEnroe combined for 20 points in the frame, and Northern would enter the break within striking range, trailing Carroll 34-39.
The game was tight throughout the early stages of the second half, with Carroll struggling to match their first half efficiency over the first couple minutes.
The Saints would start to pull away near the midway point of the frame, getting excellent production from their bench to ignite the run. With 11:39 remaining and the Saints up by four,
James Lang (Portland, Ore. / R-JR) and
Isaiah Moore (Fairfield, Calif. / JR) would combine to go on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes. Crane and
Derek Kramer (Bellevue, Wash. / JR) capped the big stretch with five more points on the tail-end, and suddenly the Saints found themselves with a 17-point lead with under nine minutes remaining.
Kramer and Crane handled the majority of the scoring down the stretch, and a solid defensive effort over the final six minutes of the game would help close out the opening round win and move the Saints on in the bracket.
The win guarantees that the Saints will finish with no worse than a .500 record, and a win tomorrow would lock up a winning season for Coach Pearson in his first at the helm.
Crane finished the game as the leading scorer, going 11-16 for 25 points. Kramer had a great night as well, adding 14 points, six boards, and a pair of blocks.
Following a scorching hot 68 percent effort from the floor in the first half, Carroll cooled down a bit in the second, finishing the game at 58 percent as a team (28-48).
The Lights were led by a terrific 22-point effort from Jack Reardon, and in an abnormality, did not attempt a single free throw in the game.
Carroll will now turn their attention towards a 9 p.m. tip-off against second-seeded Providence tomorrow evening, looking to replicate the 101-88 win over the Argos they had in the last meeting in Great Falls.
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