A 12-0 scoring run in the second half helped the Carroll College men's basketball team to an 83-68 victory over Embry-Riddle Saturday at the Carroll P.E. Center.

Freshman forward Andy Garland scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds and senior Chris Kashmitter had four of his six points in the late run as the Saints improved to 4-0 on the season.

Carroll outrebounded the Eagles 32-19 and grabbed 12 offensive rebounds on the way to improving to 4-0.

"We really focused on toughness in this game," Carroll coach Gary Turcott said. "Toughness and smart offense. This is the best we've run our offense this season."

The Saints hit 27 of 57 shots from the field (47 percent), 14 of 30 from three-point territory (46 percent) and had 18 assists. They also made 15 of 17 free throws (88 percent).

Embry Riddle, which went 27-7 last year, got 26 points from 6-foot-5 junior forward Eric Lorenzi, but dropped to 4-2.

Carroll plays at the P.E. Center Friday and Saturday night.

Despite the toughness and efficient offense, the Eagles were within 69-65 when the Saints came out of a timeout and reeled off 12 straight points for an 81-65 lead.

Kashmitter, a 6-6 forward, started the scoring by collecting an entry pass and hitting a short jumper with 4:34 left in the game.

After an Embry-Riddle turnover, Garland grabbed an offensive rebound, scored and was fouled, which pushed the lead to 74-65.

"We talked in the huddle about toughness during that timeout," said Kaschmitter, who also had seven rebounds. "We did a good job of working hard and getting some key rebounds at the end."

"They were really focused on offense, and tough all across the floor," Embry-Riddle coach Steve Ridder said after his team dropped to 4-2. "That's the best team we've played so far."

Josh Saunders added 19 points and Chad Vaculin hit 5 of 7 three-pointers and finished with 17 points for the Saints, who had a 14-5 edge in bench points.

In the other men's tournament game, Montana-Western made 36 of 61 shots from the field and beat MidAmerica Nazarene 95-79, making the Frontier Conference 4-0 over the two days.

EMBRY-RIDDLE -- Lorenzi 10-14 2-2 26, DeBord 6-9 3-4 15, Krazit 1-3 0-1 2, Calcourt 4-8 2-2 12, Cobb 3-9 0-0 8, Caputo 1-1 3-4 5, Graham 0-1 0-0 0, Christian 0-1 0-0 0, Deaver 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-46 10-13 68.

CARROLL-- Garland 7-10 3-3 20, Kaschmitter 2-2 2-4 6, Vaculin 5-13, 2-2 17, Saunders 6-13 4-4 19, Medina 2-6 2-2 7, Stockwell 2-6 0-0 5, Tanascu 0-1 0-0 0, Mee 0-1 0-0 0, Godecke 1-3 0-0 3, Parks 2-2 2-2 6. Totals 27-57 15-17 83.

Halftime -- Carroll 38, Embry-Riddle 35.

Rebounds n Embry Riddle 19 (Lorenzi 5, DeBord 5), Carroll 32 (Garland 9). Three-point: Embry-Riddle 8-16 (Lorenzi 4-5), Carroll 14-30 (Vaculin 5-7). Assists -- Embry-Riddle 9 (Krazit 3), Carroll 16 (Stockwell 8). Steals -- Embry-Riddle 5 (DeBord 2, Krazit 2), Carroll 4 (Kaschmitter, Medina, Tanascu, Godecke 1).

Sports Editor Cliff Pfenning:

447-4070 or cliff.pfenning@helenair.com