#11 Men’s Basketball Prevails Over Emory

Jan. 22 - (PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – Fellow senior forwards Nate Maurer (Pittsburgh, Pa./Linsly School) and Clayton Barlow-Wilcox (Brookline, Mass.) paced the host #11 Carnegie Mellon men’s basketball team to a 96-88 victory over University Athletic Association (UAA) opponent Emory University on Sunday, January 22. Barlow-Wilcox scored a career-high 31 points and Maurer added 27 points and a season-high 14 rebounds in the win. The Tartans avenged their Friday night loss to move to 14-2 overall and 4-1 in the UAA. The Eagles fall to 9-7 and 1-4.

The Tartans came out of the gate running as they always do to take an early 14-5 lead. Barlow-Wilcox scored early and often in the first half in which he poured in 20 of his 31. The Eagles didn’t roll over and die however, and took the lead at 38-37 with 4:52 left in the half. With the shot clock off, the Tartans had a chance for the last shot of the half, but they turned the ball over and Emory guard Adrian Sosa drilled a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Eagles their biggest lead of the half at 48-41.

Early in the second half the Tartans erased a seven point deficit with nine straight points to go up 59-57 at the 14:14 mark. Carnegie Mellon took their biggest lead of the game at 85-76 with 5:57 to go when Barlow-Wilcox threaded a pass between two defenders on a fast break to the wide open Maurer who slammed the ball through with authority. The closest Emory got the rest of the way was four points, but each time that occurred the Tartans were able to answer with a basket of their own on the way to their eight point win.

The two teams played with slightly different styles as the Tartans pushed the pace and constantly looked inside to Barlow-Wilcox and Maurer to score. The Eagles tried to slow the pace down and create off the dribble. Both teams shot 47% for the game with the Tartans dominating in the rebounding department 45-30. Both teams rebounded well on the offensive glass with the Tartans pulling down 21 and the Eagles grabbing 13. Emory was plagued by foul trouble all game and the Tartans capitalized on that by going 31-39 from the line. The Tartans shot only seven threes compared to 32 in their loss Friday and the strategy worked as they looked inside more and, as a result, dominated the points in the paint, outscoring the Eagles 50-34 in that department.

Barlow-Wilcox finished 10-of-16 from the field and 10-of-13 from the line. Forwards Marques Johnson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) and Maurer both recorded their second double-doubles of the season with Johnson collecting 14 points and 11 rebounds. Guard A.J. Straub (St. Mary’s Pa./Elk County Catholic), Carnegie Mellon’s three-point specialist, made it 19 straight games dating back to last season, that he’s made a three-pointer. He now has 43 threes on the season. Emory spread the scoring around, as five players scored in double figures with guard Spiros Ferderigos leading the way with 21 points. Sosa came off the bench to score 17 in the loss.

The Carnegie Mellon men’s basketball team will next be in action on Friday, January 27 when they travel to play the University of Chicago Maroons in what is scheduled to be an 8:00 p.m. start.