HELENA INDEPENDENT RECORD: Saints basketball snags win in season opener
This entry was posted on 10/28/2008 2:31 AM and is filed under Boys Basketball News.
Below is an excerpt from an article reprinted from the
The first game of the season and the Carroll College men’s basketball team already brought the drama.
Carroll’s senior guards Josh Saunders and Chad Vaculin hit 3-pointers with less than 1:20 left in the game and the Saints (1-0) finally broke away from the University of Regina 83-76 Thursday night in the Carroll P.E. Center.
In a back-and-forth contest that saw the Saints rally from a 40-35 halftime deficit, Saunders’ 3 from the left corner of the floor broke a 74-74 tie before Regina’s Kris Heshka sank two free throws to bring the lead down to one point.
But, Vaculin’s long 3 with 42 seconds left put the Saints up 80-76 and let them cruise to the final horn.
“It just came in the offense. They had a big guy on me and he was playing way off,” Vaculin said. “I just felt it. It’s a good thing it went in.”
Vaculin followed it up by rebounding a missed Regina field goal and scored the last three points on four free-throw attempts.
The all-Frontier Conference selection finished with 15 points and seven assists to just one turnover, but the Saints saw their biggest surge from new transfer Chris Medina.
The junior guard from Salt Lake Community College could do just about everything for the Saints, leading the squad with 20 points and three steals.
He also scored the team’s first eight points — six of them on 3s — as Carroll struggled to answer Regina’s quick-shooting offense.
“It was a lot different,” Medina said. “It’s kind of hard trying to feel your way through the offense.
“With all the coaching and assisting around here, they’re helping me find my game.”
The new recruit had a limited time to figure out Carroll’s offense and defense since a new rule prohibited Frontier Conference teams from practicing before Oct. 1.
He spent the summer playing by himself and basically “practicing blind.”
It didn’t seem to show as he lit up the scoreboard and even drew two charging fouls in a rough game that had Regina’s bench getting a technical and Vaculin taking a seat with blood dripping from his knee.
Lisa Kunkel IR staff photographer - Carroll College’s Chris Medina (51) battles for the ball against University of Regina’s Kris Heshka along with Carroll’s Chase Godecke during their season opener Thursday night in the Carroll P.E. Center.
