HELENA — The Carroll College basketball teams are 2-0 in Frontier Conference play after earning a sweep over Montana Western on Thursday evening at the PE Center.
The Saints women rolled to a comfortable win over the Bulldogs while the Carroll men's victory over Western felt like it might come down to whoever took the final shot — which it did.
The Bulldogs are now 1-1 in conference play.
No. 5 Carroll College women 81, Montana Western 72
Addi Ekstrom piled up a team-high 19 points including four 3-pointers and Jamie Pickens added 18 points as the Saints grabbed the lead late in the first quarter on a Maddie Geritz 3-pointer and didn't relinquish the lead again.
Geritz and Kyndall Keller scored 15 points apiece for the Saints who improved to 11-3 overall.
The Bulldogs were paced by a game-high 21 points from Joelnell Momberg who scored went 4-for-8 from 3 points range. Jordan Sweeney added 15 points for Western while Shainy Mack and Isabella Lund each scored 10.
The Saints women will host a Montana Tech team on Saturday that's 1-1 in the Frontier after falling to MSU-Northern 52-51 in overtime on Thursday. The Western women will travel to Providence to face an Argos squad that handed a ranked Rocky Mountain College team its second straight conference loss.
Carroll College men 75, Montana Western 73
Carroll's Kendall Moore hit a winning baseline fadeaway at the buzzer to respond to a game-tying 3-pointer from Western's Quincy Jones with seven seconds left in the game as the Saints improved to 8-7 overall.
Jones' tying triple was setup by a steal and assist from teammate Jacksen Burckley as the Saints tried to consume the final seconds of the game after a jump shot from Andrew Cook gave Carroll a 3-point lead in the final minute.
"I thought (head coach Ryan Lundgren) was going to call timeout (after Jones' triple) but I was looking at him like 'don't call timeout,''" said Moore, who finished the game with 19 points, of the game-sealing play. "If you hoop for real, you'll be ready for those moments. I've worked on that shot numerous times so I was comfortable shooting it."
A game that Carroll led by as many as 14 in the first half eventually saw the Bulldogs scrape back after the break and take a one-point lead off a 3-pointer from Jalyn Stepney who finished the game with 20 points. The teams would ultimately exchange eight ties including Jones' 3-pointer in the final seconds.
Cook led all scorers with 21 points, Gui Pedra added 10 and both James Lang and Zane Foster were on the cusp of double doubles with 9 points and 10 rebounds apiece.
Western got 12 points from Taylor, 10 from Michael Haverfield and 9 from Christian Pitcher.
The Saints men will now host Montana Tech on Saturday in a meeting between teams that are 2-0 in the Frontier Conference while the Bulldogs will head to Providence, which is 0-2 in league play after falling 74-64 to Rocky Mountain College.
