BUTTE, Mont. – 10th-ranked Carroll College (Mont.) defeated Oklahoma City University 70-63 in a hard-fought contest on Friday evening in the opening round of the Montana Tech Fall Classic, played at Kelvin Sampson Court.
 
Carroll College (6-0) led 30-23 at halftime but OCU (1-4) fought back, cutting the CC lead to 36-35 on a jumper at the top of the paint by senior guard Rashaun Coleman at the 15:11 led mark. The Stars kept fighting and two free throws by junior forward Kori Guest at the 9:41 mark cut the Fighting Saints lead to 46-45.
 
Carroll College then went on a 14-5 run over the next three minutes to take a 60-50 lead the at the 6:32 mark. A determined OCU squad kept coming at the opponent but could get no closer than the final margin of seven points, achieved on a 3-pointer by Coleman with seconds remaining in the game.
 
Guest finished with a team-high 15 points while Coleman and a senior guard Ryan Birt contributed 14 points apiece. Senior forward Elie Ghomsi finished with a team-high 10 rebounds.
 
OCU made 22 of 56 field goals attempted (39.3 %) while Carroll College made 27 of 64 field goals attempted (42.2 %). The Fighting Saints finished with the edge in free throws, making 14 of 18 attempts compared to 10 of 12 made by the Stars.
 
OCU will close-out the classic tomorrow night against host Montana Tech. It will be the first ever contest between the two opponents.