BUTTE, Mont. - The Carroll College Men's Basketball team kept their hopes of a Frontier Conference Tournament title alive on Saturday, charging back from an early deficit to beat sixth-seeded Dakota State, 87-81 at the Butte Civic Center.

Needing a lift following a flat start, the Fighting Saints (20-8, 17-5) relied on a pair of spectacular performances from their Frontier Conference Individual award-winners. Trailing by as many as 17 in the first half, the Saints flipped the script in a comeback win that won't soon be forgotten.

Dakota State grabbed an early lead on a pair of second-chance three-pointers from Brayden Pankonen. Dela Cruz stopped the bleed at the 17-minute mark, while shotty rebounding continued to provide the Trojans with opportunities. A third Pankonen triple, paired with an and-one from Ojukwu gave DSU an early 14-2 lead, and by the first media the Trojans were up 18-7.

Carroll struggled against the Trojans' 2-3 zone throughout the early stages, and Frontier Conference Player of the Year Isaiah Crane (Portland, Ore. / R-SO) was held scoreless over the first eight minutes. Crane, who averaged a league-best 20 ppg throughout conference play, got his first points of the night at the free throw line, bringing the Saints within 10, at 24-14.

Much like their counterparts on the Women's side, the Saints shot the ball poorly in the first half. Carroll was just 5-14 (35 percent) from the floor over the first ten minutes, and 2-8 (25 percent) from beyond the arc. By the final media timeout of the half, the Trojan lead grew to a game-high 17, as the Saints continued to spin their wheels on the offensive end. A series of uncharacteristic turnovers and missed free-throws, paired with rebounding struggles kept Carroll from building any momentum.

Fouls began to pile up, and a pair of Carroll guards, Crane and Drew Jones (Puyallup, Wash. / FR) were forced to the bench with three personals each in the opening half.

A late Isaac Round (Northampton, England / SO) triple, briefly trimmed the Trojan lead to 10, but DSU added one final jumper before the horn to carry a 49-37 advantage at the break.

While the shooting picked up over the course of the opening 20, Carroll still shot below their No. 10-ranked 50.5 field goal percentage. The Saints ended the first 14-32 (43 percent) from the floor, while Dakota State shot 56 percent as a team (18-32).

The Trojans dominated the glass in the first half, outrebounding Carroll 21-10, resulting in 13 second chance points. Crane led the Saints with 10 points, while a trio of Trojans put up 10 or more in the half, led by Pankonen's 16.

Coming out of the break, Crane helped the Saints get off to a quick start, but his early impact would be short-lived. The redshirt-sophomore was assessed his fourth foul of the game at the 18-minute mark, and forced to the bench. Two minutes later, Jones picked up his fourth as well, and joined Crane on the bench.
 
Dakota State Head Coach Kevin Williamson was given a tech at the 15:20 mark, and a pair of Kellen Harrison (Bozeman, Mont. / SO) free throws cut the DSU lead to eight, its smallest since the sixth minute of the game.
 
Playing with four fouls, Crane re-entered with 13 minutes left, and buried a long two to trim the lead to five. Jones followed soon after, and the pair knocked down back-to-back triples to bring Carroll within three.

Little-by-little, bit-by-bit, the Fighting Saints clawed back into the mix. Back-to-back three-pointers from Freshman of the Year Drew Jones sent the well-traveled Carroll crowd into a frenzy, tying things up at 72-72. Just a few moments later, he drained a pair of free throws to give the Saints their first lead of the game, one that came at the 3:25 mark.

Several ties later, a Crane defensive board turned into a pair of Christy free throws, giving Carroll a two-score cushion – all the buffer they would need. Issac Round delivered the dagger, hitting a three-pointer at the one-minute mark that put Carroll up five. Solid free throw shooting down the stretch closed out the big time win, moving the Saints one step closer to their first Conference tournament crown since 2018.

Carroll's back-to-back Freshmen of the Year award winners were the X-factor in the win. Jones led the Saints with 23 points, 18 of which coming in the second half while playing with four fouls. Crane was hot on his heels, adding in 22 points while leading Carroll with 6 rebounds.

Round and Christy rounded out the Carroll double-figure scorers, finishing with 15 and 11 points, respectively, helping the Saints finish the game at 50 percent from the floor as a team (28-56).

The win sends the Saints to the Frontier Semifinal for the 10th time in their last 11 seasons, and sets up a Sunday night showdown with the seven-seed, MSU-Northern. The Lights picked up the tournament's first upset, as they knocked-off the two-seed, Bellevue, last night.

Tip-off for tomorrow's Frontier Conference Semifinal is set for 7:30 p.m., back inside the Butte Civic Center.