The Official Site of the Fighting Saints

HELENA, Mont. - After a successful opening weekend in California, the Carroll Men's Basketball team started-off their home slate on the right foot as well with a 78-51 win over Bushnell on Wednesday evening at the PE Center.

For the first time in the young season, the Fighting Saints (3-0) saw solid production up-and-down the entire lineup, as they led coast-to-coast in their home opening win over the Beacons (0-1).

Led by a second-straight 20- plus-point effort from Isaac Round (Northampton, England / JR), the Saints walked-off their home court with their highest-scoring game of the young season.

Carroll dictated the pace of the game right from the opening tip, racing out to a 12-2 lead in the first five minutes of action. From there, the Beacons would never get back within even one score.

While careless turnovers continue to be a small early season problem, the Saints continue to find ways to overcome. Nine first half Carroll turnovers were negated thanks to a strong defensive effort by the Saints, as they forced 10 Bushnell turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

All nine Saints who saw the court in the first half put up at least two points in the frame, helping Carroll grow their lead to a margin of 18 points heading into the break at 38-20. Round scored seven of his 22 points in the first half, while NAIA MBB Hoops Report National MVP of the Week, Drew Jones (Puyallup, Wash. / SO) , led the Saints with eight first half points.

Carroll shot over 50 percent from the floor in the first half (51.6 FG percent), and managed to up the output in the second half with a highly-efficient 62 percent effort from the floor (18-29 FG). On the flip side, the Saints played their brand of defense, holding the Beacons to a meager 31 percent shooting - including a 22 percent effort in the opening half (7-31).

Bushnell made a brief run in the second half, chipping away Carroll's 20-point lead down to just 11by the 14:37 mark. The Saints would thwart the comeback effort, however, never allowing BU to get within 10 points for the remainder of the night.

Viktor Bystrom (Linkoping, Sweden / JR) impressed in his home debut, finishing his evening with eight points and a team-best eight rebounds. He highlighted the pull-away effort in the second half for the Saints, throwing down a dunk over traffic in the circle while also adding a pair of blocks.

Only three Saints scored in double figures, led by Round's 22-point night in which he shot 4-5 from range in the victory as well. Jones posted 14 points, while Josiah Cuaresma (Missoula, Mont. / SR) finished with 11 points on a 5-6 shooting night.

Quick hands has become a hallmark of Carroll Basketball, and Kellen Harrison (Bozeman, Mont. / JR) and Jones made their presence felt defensively. Harrison led all players with five steals in the game, while Jones was one-off with four.

While the Saints were enjoying their best shooting night of the year from the floor, the stripe was a different story. Carroll converted only five of their 12 free throw attempts on the evening (41.7 percent).

Carroll will enjoy a free weekend, and then turn their attention towards a pair of games next weekend in Caldwell, Idaho against Northwest (Wash.), and No. 16 College of Idaho.