The Frontier Conference saved everything for the last batch of regular season games, and the Carroll College men are right in the middle of it.

The Saints (19-5 overall, 9-4 conference) host No. 17 MSU-Northern (20-8, 9-4) tonight in a battle for second place, which is in a three-way tie between the two teams and Rocky Mountain College (20-8, 9-4).

If Carroll wins, it will likely tuck itself behind No. 8 Westminster (24-4, 10-3), who is favored to win its road contest with Lewis-Clark State (11-12, 5-8) tonight.

If the Saints lose, they could slip all the way to fourth place, barring a win by Rocky over the University of Great Falls (8-20, 2-10).

No matter what, Carroll will host their first game in the Frontier Conference playoffs, beginning Wednesday.

If it takes second, however, it could also take an at-large berth in the NAIA tournament because of its strength of schedule. According to the Massey Ratings, the Frontier Conference is considered the second toughest in the NAIA behind the Golden State Athletic Conference.

The pressure is on for the Saints to hold down a Lights team that beat them 73-69 earlier in the season, and its leading scorer, Chris Johnson.

The 6-foot-1 guard racked up 20 points against Carroll, leading a balanced attack that had two others in double digits. Travis Noble added 18 points and Shaun Tatarka 13.

"We have to stay out in front of their explosive guards," said Saints head coach Gary Turcott. "Blocking out is going to be key."

Carroll will be depending on its fast, spread-open offense and a team defense that helped them stuff the University of Great Falls 80-66 on Thursday and upset Westminster the week before, 78-71.

The Saints are led by freshman post Andy Garland, who is averaging 14.6 points and eight rebounds per game.

Senior guards Chad Vaculin and Josh Saunders are adding 13.9 and 12.9 points per game, respectively, while junior forward Chris Medina is contributing roughly 12.1 ppg.

Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Jeff Windmueller: 447-4065 or jeff.windmueller

@helenair.com