HELENA — Thursday night the Carroll College men's and women's basketball programs overcame tight games against Montana Western in the opening of Frontier Conference play.
Carroll women 72, UM Western 61
Up first were the women, No.9-ranked Carroll remained in control over the No. 23 Bulldogs the majority of the game and eventually came out on top 72-61.
Kamden Hilborn put up a whopping 18 points in the first half, helping the Saints to a 33-26 lead. The Saints pulled away further in the third, to enter the fourth quarter up 58-41.
But this was by no means the end of the game. In the fourth the Bulldogs went on a 15-4 tear to cut the lead. After a few too many fouls from the Saints and a handful of trips to the line for the Bulldogs, the Saints lead was be cut to on, 62-61 with three minutes to go.
The Saints dominated for the remainder of the game, putting up 10 more points for a final score of 72-61. Senior Kamden Hilborn had her career-high night in scoring with 25 points.
Carroll men 76, UM Western 65
The men's game was close for nearly its entirety, but the No. 23 Carroll men pulled away in the fourth quarter to win 76-65.
Helena native Brayden Koch had his first start and his first career bucket at home and in a Saints uniform.
The Saints led by just two points at the half 35-33.
The second half stayed tight but in the end the Saints pulled away with about four minutes left to make the score 76-65. Senior Brendan Temple also had his career-high night in scoring with 27 points to help the Carroll men to their 10th straight win over Western.
