Brandon Stinson

Men's Basketball 1/17/2024 2:25:00 PM Brandon Stinson | Sports Information & Media Coordinator

GAME NOTES: Rocky Men’s Basketball Looks to Even Up Their Conference Record Against Carroll College Thursday

BILLINGS, Mont.- The Battlin' Bears host the third and final game of their homestand as they take on Carroll College on Thursday evening.

Matchup

Rocky Mountain College (10-6) vs Carroll College (8-8)
Thursday, Jan. 18th | 7:00pm (MT) | Fortin Education Center

Battlin' Bear Recap

The Rocky men lost their second conference matchup of the season on Saturday against MSU-Northern. Both conference losses this season have been in overtime. After winning their first two overtime matchups of the season, the Battlin' Bears have fallen in their previous two overtime bouts. Since the 2017-18 season, Rocky Men's Basketball has a 7-8 record in overtime games.

The Battlin' Bears dropped all three of their regular season matchups with Carroll College a season ago but took a commanding 82-58 victory in the Frontier Conference Tournament Quarterfinals.

Junior Kael Robinson was named to the 2024 Bevo Francis Top 100 Watch List on Monday. The award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest overall season in Small College Basketball. Robinson was the only Frontier Conference player to be named to the list and just one of 29 NAIA players to be mentioned.

Despite having just his third game this season with less than 10 points, Robinson was a big impact player this past Saturday, dishing a career-high eight assists and grabbing three steals in the loss to MSU-Northern. Saturday was his fifth game this season with three or more steals.

Senior Maxim Stephens (9.4), along with Robinson (9.3) are the two top rebounders in the Frontier Conference this season.

Preview

The Fighting Saints enter Thursday's matchup with an 8-8 overall record and a 2-1 start in Frontier Conference play with wins over Montana Western and University of Providence. Carroll has won four of their last five contests.

The Saints are led by 2022-23 First Team All-Conference guard Andrew Cook. Cook is the Frontier's leading scorer this season, averaging 19.4 points per game while shooting over 50% from the field and grabbing over five rebounds per game.

Two newcomers have been the other big pieces for Carroll this season. Chipola Junior College transfer Kendall Moore has provided 14.6 points per game with 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals this season. Moore holds likely the biggest highlight of the season for the Saints thus far, scoring a buzzer-beating jumper to secure a 75-73 victory over Montana Western. Seven-footer Zane Foster, a transfer from NCAA Division I Central Michigan, has been a defensive anchor for the Saints this season, averaging 2.4 blocks per game, a mark that leads the Frontier Conference and ranks fifth in the NAIA.

Carroll College has had the upper hand in the head-to-head competitions as of late, as the Fighting Saints have won eight of the past 10 matchups dating back to the 2019-2020 season.

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