The Vikings hit 12 of 16 free throws in the final 1:43 to seal the win and remain the lone unbeaten team left in NCAA Division III. Lawrence, now 13-0 and 7-0 in the MWC, also picked up its 14th consecutive win at home.
Kyle MacGillis paced the Vikings with 22 points and was one of five Lawrence players in double figures. Keven Bradley added 14 points, Andy Hurley and Ryan Kroeger had 11 points apiece and Ben Rosenblatt had 10. All-America forward Chris Braier had a poor shooting night (3-14) and finished with seven points, but he pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds and picked up four steals.
Nate Drury paced Carroll (11-2, 5-1) with 23 points. Paul Toshner added 16 points, and Jason Scheper had 13.
The Vikings looked like they might run away from Carroll in the first half, but the Pioneers fought back. Lawrence led by 18 points three times in the opening half, but Carroll used an 11-2 run over the final 3:39 to trim the lead to 43-34 at the break.
The Pioneers started the second half right where they left off in the first. Carroll went on a 16-8 run to start the second half, punctuated by Scheper's three-point play, to cut Lawrence's lead to 51-50 with 14:57 left.
MacGillis answered with back-to-back 3-pointers for Lawrence, and the Vikings went on a 9-0 outburst to push the lead back to 60-50.
During that decisive stretch, Carroll committed seven fouls and missed all six of its shots from the floor.
Carroll battled back and got the deficit trimmed to 78-75 with 27 seconds left. Kroeger was fouled and went to the line and made the first free throw. He missed the second, but Matt Osland tapped the ball back to Kroeger, who was fouled again. He knocked down both free throws to give the Vikings some breathing room.
MacGillis and Kroeger then made two free throws apiece to give the Vikings an 85-79 lead with eight seconds left to seal the victory.
Lawrence is back in action on Saturday when it travels to St. Norbert for a 2 p.m. game.