HELENA, Mont. - Sophomore Dane Warp came off the bench to score 20 points to lead Carroll College to their second straight Frontier Conference men's basketball playoff championship with a 79-65 victory over Montana Western. The championship gives the Saints the league's automatic bid to the NAIA national tournament in Kansas.

Carroll got off to a fast start in the game's first five minutes to lead 19-5. The Bulldogs never recovered enough to mount any serious comeback. Western chipped the Carroll lead down to six, 26-20, but that was as close as the Bulldogs would get. The stingey Saints' defense held Western to 25 points below their season average.

Carroll's offense was red hot with a sizzling 64 percent from field including 8 of 13 3-point field goals. In addition to Warp's 20 points, also scoring in double figures for Carroll were Ryan Imhoff with 12 and Ife Kalejaiye with 10.

Zaccheus Darko-Kelly led Western with 16 points followed by Dom Robinson with 14 and Brandon Jones with 13.

Carroll improves to 27-5 overall while the Bulldogs fall to 25-7. Western should receive an at-large bid to the NAIA national tournament. The selections will be announced Wednesday.