GREAT FALLS — The Carroll College basketball programs fought off Providence on the road to start Frontier Conference play with wins.
Carroll women 63, Providence 59
The back-and-forth match never saw a lead grow larger than six points. Providence led 47-45 heading into the fourth quarter. The two teams exchanged baskets until the game was knotted at 51. At that point, Saints post players Maddie Geritz and Jamie Pickens scored layups that would give Carroll a 55-51 lead.
With less than a minute remaining, Willa Albrecht put Carroll ahead 60-55. The Argos made it a one-possession game after Ashlee Maldonado sank two free throws, but Geritz sealed the deal on the other end with a drive to the basket.
Carroll's Kyndall Keller and Providence's Maldonado tied for a game-high 20 points each. Pickens finished with a double-double, scoring 19 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.
Carroll men 67, Providence 65
Carroll took its largest lead of the game in the second half after a Derek Kramer dunk put them ahead by 13. The Argos fought back into the game and evened the score at 63 with less than three minutes to go. After each scoring one more basket, Andrew Cook broke the tie with a turnaround jumper to put Carroll up 67-65.
Providence had a shot at the win, but a 3-point attempt from Davien Harris-Williams was off the mark. Carroll’s James Lang grabbed the rebound and as he was falling out of bounds, he was able to call timeout to secure the possession for the Saints with 0.7 seconds left to avoid giving the Argos a second try.
Cook led all scorers with 20 points and Lang added another 16 for the Saints. Providence had four players score double figures, led by 15 from Jake Olson.
