By DICKINSON, N.D. – The Carroll College Men’s Basketball team battled back from a large halftime deficit, but ultimately ran out of time in their comeback effort, falling 97-71 to Dickinson State at the Coca-Cola Classic on Saturday night.
The Fighting Saints (3-5), for the second-straight night, saw first half struggles lead to a loss to the host-school Blue Hawks (6-4) to round out their weekend at the Coca-Cola Classic.
Carroll, while not as efficient as they would like in the games opening minutes, found themselves down by seven points midway through the opening frame, 24-17.
Carroll, up to that point, had converted just enough opportunities to keep things close, but they would finish the first half shooting just 45 percent from the field as a team. Dickinson State converted their attempts at a much higher clip, shooting 67 percent from the field on their way to a 53-35 lead.
A quick basket to begin the second half would see the Blue Hawks take their largest lead of the game at 20 points.
Over the final 13 minutes of the game, Carroll would begin to chip away at the margin. Andrew Cook (Huntington Beach, Calif. / JR) cut the lead to seven points with five minutes remaining after three points the hard way. Kendall Moore (Dayton, Ohio / JR) cut the lead to just three points on a drive to the rim with just under three minutes remaining.
Four separate times the Saints would cut the lead to just three points, but a string of untimely fouls would repeatedly send DSU to the line, and they would hold on to their lead long enough to secure the 97-91 win.
Andrew Cook, to the surprise of few, had another great night offensively, leading the Saints with a game-high 27 points on 12-19 shooting.
Three other Saints finished with double-digit points including Zane Foster’s (Puyallup, Wash. / JR) 16 points around the rim.
The Blue Hawks had two players each finish with team-highs of 22 points in Kose Egbule and Trey Stevens.
Up next, Carroll will host SAGU American Indian College at the PE Center in Helena on December 14 before heading to Arizona for the annual Cactus Classic.
Visit www.carrollathletics.com for a preview of that matchup, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.
