Emory Defends Home Court, Upends Tartans

Feb. 17 - (ATLANTA, Ga.) – With first place in the University Athletic Association (UAA) on the line for the fourth straight weekend, the Carnegie Mellon men's basketball team visited Emory University with hopes of putting some distance between them and their UAA counterparts. Emory didn't allow it as the Eagles pulled out an 88-74 victory.

A late first half run fueled by sharp shooting senior guard A.J. Straub (St. Marys, Pa./Elk County Catholic) and unselfish team play led the visiting Tartans (18-5, 8-4 UAA) to a 45-36 halftime lead.

After sophomore guard Geoff Kozak (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon Area) started the Tartan offense with a trey, Emory guard Spiros Ferderigos led the Eagles (10-13, 3-9 UAA) on a 12-4 run with eight points to take a 14-7 lead. Carnegie Mellon answered with their own 14-2 run from the 13:55 mark to the 9:40 mark to regain the lead 21-16.

Reserve senior forward Bary Dunn (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) hit a layup and a dunk to cap off the run and then scored six straight points to start a 12-8 run which extended the Tartan lead to 33-24.

With his team leading by six, Straub then went on an offensive tear by hitting four consecutive three-pointers, including three in a minute span, to end the half giving the Tartans the nine point cushion and silencing the Eagles comeback attempt.

A quiet scoring half by senior forward Clayton Barlow-Wilcox (Brookline, Mass.) didn't stop him from contributing, as he dropped six dimes. Freshman guard Corey O'Rourke (Merion, Pa./St. Joe Prep) also joined the assist brigade with four in the first stanza.

The second half didn't start well for the Tartans as early fouls, including senior forward Nate Maurer's (Pittsburgh, Pa./Linsly School) third, fourth and fifth (a technical) all happened in the opening three minutes.

Carnegie Mellon was ahead 47-38 at Maurer's departure and then watched as Emory went on an 20-6 run over a seven plus minute span to take a 58-53 lead with just under 10 minutes to play. Emory used free throws and clutch three-point baskets by Jeff Hall to maintain their lead and push on to the 14 point victory.

The Tartans offense went cold as they only hit five baskets during the half and shot just 23.8% to the Eagles 51.9%. The Eagles also made Carnegie Mellon turnovers standout, as they convereted 11 second half blunders into 18 points.

Straub and Dunn led the Tartans with 18 points apiece. Barlow-Wilcox, who fouled out with four minutes to play, finished as the game's leading rebounder with eight. Maurer and Dunn followed Barlow-Wilcox with seven boards each.

Hall finished with a game-high 27 points for Emory, while Ferderigos tallied 18 and Johnny Pinto put in 10.

Carnegie Mellon will look to regain a share of the UAA lead with a road game at Case Western Reserve on Sunday, February 19 at 1:00 p.m.