HELENA, Mont. - A strong start to the second half proved plenty good enough for the Carroll Men's Basketball team, as they rolled to an 80-60 win over Montana Western on Saturday night at the PE Center.

The Fighting Saints (15-6, 13-3) completed their fourth season-sweep over the Bulldogs since 2020, doing so in convincing fashion with their second-straight win in the series by 20 points or more.

While buckets were hard to come-by in Friday night's nail-biter against Montana Tech, the Saints saw shots fall at a much higher clip in Saturday's lopsided victory. 

The Saints turned defense into offense early, with 10 of their first 15 points coming in transition, helping build a 13-point lead over the game's first 10 minutes. Carroll shot 41 percent from the floor, with a combined 22 points from Isaac Round (Northampton, England / SO) and Isaiah Crane (Portland, Ore. / R-SO) to grow a first half lead as large as 15 before settling for a 39-29 advantage at the break. 

Carroll's defensive effort over the opening 20 minutes was highly impressive, as they forced 13 total Bulldog turnovers with 10 team steals - a remarkable five of which belonging to Lorence Dela Cruz (Winnipeg, Manitoba / SR). 

The first five minutes of the second half put the game well out of reach. Carroll began the frame with an incredible 22-0 run, spurred by another five steals and an 8-10 effort from the floor to blow the game wide open.

Eight different Saints would score in the second half, led by nine points from Kellen Harrison (Bozeman, Mont. / SO) and eight from Drew Jones (Puyallup, Wash. / FR) as Carroll cruised down the stretch to the comfortable win.

Crane scored a game-high 16 points, one of five Saints to record double-figures (Round, Harrison, Christy, Jones), while the Bulldogs only had two players record 10 or more points (Steward, Taylor).

The Carroll defense did a terrific job slowing down the Frontier Conference's leading scorer, Kyle Gruhler (21.5 ppg), holding the senior to just eight points - his lowest scoring game of the year.

Lorence Dela Cruz finished the night with seven steals, his fourth game of the season with six or more steals, and just one shy of his season-high (8 steals at Bismarck State - 11/22/25).

With Rocky's win over Montana Tech, and Bellevue's loss to Valley City State, the Saints remain one game back of the Frontier lead, now tied with the Bruins heading into next weekend's head-to-head. Carroll will look to avenge an early January loss at Bellevue on Friday, before taking on Dakota State next Saturday.