HELENA -- After defeating the Montana Tech Orediggers in overtime on Dec. 2, the Carroll College men's basketball team had little time to rest and prepare for the No. 14 Lewis-Clark State Warriors.
Just because they didn't have those luxuries didn't mean they didn't make the best of it before beating the Warriors 78-69 at the PE Center on Friday.
Both teams squared off evenly through the first 18 minutes of play, with the Warriors holding a two-point lead. The Fighting Saints caught fire in the final minutes of the first half and scored eight unanswered points to set the score at 41-35 with one half left to be played. Lewis-Clark State got close to squaring back up with Carroll College at 66-64 with just more than three minutes left in the game but was never able to lead at all in the second half.
Dane Warp led the Fighting Saints in points with 26, but Jovan Sljivancanin put together a monster double-double with 21 points and 16 rebounds.
The Warriors' best point producer on the night was Josiah Westbrook with 14 points.
The Carroll College Fighting Saints will now have a little over a week off before they head to Chandler, Arizona for the Cactus Classic. They'll open the event against Mount Vernon Nazarene on Dec. 14 at 2 p.m.
