The Carroll College men’s basketball team just couldn’t shake Dixie State until the very end.

The Saints (5-0) jumped out to an eight-point lead at the start of overtime and held on to beat the Rebels 87-84 Saturday in the Carroll P.E. Center.

Senior guard Chad Vaculin drained a 3-pointer and senior post Chris Kaschmitter followed up with five more points to give the Saints a boost after regulation.

But, after Dixie State (0-3) climbed back to trail 83-81, it was a big move by senior Josh Saunders that put the game away.

Saunders drove in along the right baseline, went under the basket and made a reverse layup that bounced off the glass and in to give Carroll a four-point cushion with 15 seconds on the board.

Saunders followed up with two free throws after pulling down a rebound on a missed Dixie jumper.

“I thought we really gutted it out at the end of regulation and Josh Saunders made a great play with the reverse layup,” said Saints assistant coach Kurt Paulson.

Carroll barely made it into overtime, but 3-pointers by freshman Andy Garland and senior Scott Stockwell helped erase a four-point deficit with 1:11 left.

After a Dixie time out, the Rebel’s Bowie Jeffs nailed a 3, just one of five he would complete in the game.

With the game on the line, Stockwell and Garland teamed up. Stockwell bounced a pass between defenders to hit Garland down low. Garland layed it off the glass and drew a foul from Ben Hartman to set up for the old-fashioned 3-point play.

“Scott hit me on a really good pass,” Garland said. “It was a pretty tight game the whole way.

“The senior leadership kept everyone’s heads on straight.”

Dixie called two time outs before letting Garland shoot, but even in a clutch moment he didn’t miss.

Garland finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double while going 6-for-8 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from treyland.

Kaschmitter led the Saints with 20 points while Saunders (13) and Chris Medina (10) each scored in double digits.

Hartman led Dixie with 20 points while Jeffs added 18.

Saturday’s game was the last in the Mountain West Bank Classic, following a 91-83 win by Rocky Mountain College over the Blue Angels.

Dixie State 32 43 9 — 84

Carroll 36 39 12 — 87

Dixie State — Andy Palmer 3-4 0-0 7, Ryan Sanchez 4-10 2-2 12, Adam Ross 5-7 0-0 13, Dalton Groskreutz 1-3 0-0 2, Kevin Lindquist 1-3 0-0 2, Bowie Jeffs 6-9 1-1 18, Ben Hartman 7-10, 4-4 20, Tom Whitehead 3-6 0-0 6, Nick Howard 0-2 2-2 2, Christian Wouden 1-1 0-0 2. Totals — 31-55 9-9 84.

Carroll — Andy Garland 6-8 5-5 19, Chris Kaschmitter 5-6 10-14 20, Chad Vaculin 2-13 2-2 8, Josh Saunders 3-8 6-8 13, Chris Medina 4-11 1-1 10, Scott Stockwell 2-4 0-0 6, Jason Tanascu 1-1 0-0 3, Zach Parks 4-9 0-1 8. Totals — 27-61 24-31 87.

3-pointers — Dixie 13-22 (Palmer 1-1, Sanchez 2-4, Ross 3-4, Jeffs 5-8, Hartman 2-3), Carroll 9-27 (Garland 2-3, Vaculin 2-11, Saunders 1-4, Medina 1-4, Stockwell 2-4, Tanascu 1-1). Rebounds — Dixie 27 (Sanchez 6, Howard 6), Carroll 28 (Garland 10). Assists — Dixie 16 (Jeffs 7), Carroll 17 (Vaculin 6). Fouls — Dixie 27, Carroll 17. Foul outs — none. Technicals — none.

Assistant Sports Editor

Jeff Windmueller: 447-4065 or jeff.windmueller@helenair.com