BUTTE, Mont. – Carroll (Mont.) forward Joven Sljivancanin torched Southern Oregon with 34 points and 13 rebounds and the Raiders turned in a clunker in their opener, losing 79-58 on Friday afternoon inside the HPER Complex at the Montana Tech Tip-Off Classic.

Joven Sljivancanin, a 6-foot-5 sophomore lefty from Serbia, led the Saints to 55-percent shooting from the field by going 14-of-19 with four 3-pointers. He helped them run away early by dropping 18 in the first half while SOU shot 6-of-24 before the break.

The game was also the first for the Saints, who were most recently on the court for the 2019 NAIA Division I title game. They got an additional 12 points and four assists from Dane Warp, the Frontier Conference's preseason player of the year.

Aaron Borich's 17 points, three assists and three steals led SOU. The senior point guard shot 5-ofo-10 from the field, including a 3-of-6 mark from 3, but the rest of the Raiders combined to miss all 14 of their attempts from downtown.

Tate Hoffman scored 15 and Conor Carroll had 11 off the bench, shooting 4-of-5. Hunter Bradford – who last played in the 2016-17 season, missing the past two years due to injury – impressed in his debut with seven points and eight rebounds.

The Raiders will finish the trip against the tourney host, Montana Tech, at 6 p.m. Pacific Time on Saturday.