HELENA, Mont. – The 12th-ranked Westminster men's basketball team dropped an 85-75 decision at Carroll College on Thursday night. Westminster trailed by 23 with 11:41 reamining before making a run that eventually came up short.
Westminster falls to 13-4 on the year and 1-2 in the Frontier Conference. Carroll improves to 11-4 and 1-1 in conference.
The Griffins would stage a furious rally from down 23 and trailed 74-68 at the 3:48 mark following a
Tanner Gregory basket. Two Carroll free throws would push the lead up to eight at the 3:36 mark. Westminster would again get to within six after another Gregory hoop with 1:27 to play. Carroll would then go 6-of-8 at the stripe to seal the 10 point victory.
Westminster finished the night shooting 43.4% from the field and only committing 11 turnovers. They also scored 32 points in the paint and scored 20 points from 21 Carroll turnovers. Westminster couldn't overcome 57.5% shooting from the field by the Saints and 13-of-25 (65%) shooting from beyond the arc. Carroll also corralled 35 rebounds to just 19 by Westminster.
Michael Stockton finished the night as the top scoring Griffin with 21 points. Stockton did most of his damage at the foul line where he shot 15-of-18 and setting career highs in both free throws made and attempted. He also recorded seven assists and three steals with only one turnover.
Jake Orchard added 19 points for the Griffins with four steals and three rebounds. Gregory had 15 points and a team-best five rebounds.
Travis Tucker added a career high 11 points off the bench. Tucker made 3-of-7 from beyond the arc and also collected four rebounds.
Carroll had four players in double figures, including three bench players. Andy Garland was the only starter in double figures with a game high 24 points while adding nine rebounds and five assists. Byago Diouf had 14 points and five rebounds. Ben Cutler and Tony Dalton had 12 and 11 points respectively.
Westminster will next face Rocky Mountain College on Saturday, January 15 in Billings, Mont. That game is slated for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff at the Fortin Center.
