#23 Tartans Fall in First Round Game

Mar. 3 - (SPRINGFIELD, Ohio) – It was a tough night for the Tartans of Carnegie Mellon University as they couldn't pull off a second half comeback and fell 79-71 to the sixth ranked team in the nation, Baldwin-Wallace College, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament held at Wittenberg (Ohio) University. The Tartans finish their record setting year with a 20-6 mark, while Baldwin-Wallace moves on with a 25-4 record.

Both teams started slow but a three-pointer by sophomore guard Geoff Kozak (Huntingdon, Pa.) gave the Tartans a 10-7 lead at the 15:56 mark of the first half. The Tartans held on to a 12-10 lead before B-W took their first lead of the game, 15-12, at the 13:44 mark on a basket from behind the arc by Keith Aufmuth.

The Yellow Jackets would feed off the shot and build an eight point lead using a 14-4 run and a three-minute scoreless streak by the Tartans. With the score 24-16, senior forward Nate Maurer (Pittsburgh, Pa./Linsly School) ended the drought with a layin and 7:47 showing on the clock.

Early shooting woes for the Tartans, including five critical missed lay-ups, and tough Yellow Jackets defense led to the 40-28 halftime advantage for B-W. Carnegie Mellon shot just 27 percent for the period. B-W seemed to have no troubles in the first round game, shooting an early 47 percent. Maurer led the Tartans with nine points at the break, while Tori Davis started with 13 points, seven rebounds, and four blocked shots.

The Tartans used 67 percent shooting from the field in the second half to chip away at the Baldwin-Wallace lead and got within as many as three points before B-W ran off five straight points in the last minute of play.

A trio of seniors starred in the second stanza for the Tartans, as Clayton Barlow-Wilcox (Brookline, Mass.), Marques Johnson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) and A.J. Straub (St. Marys, Pa./Oak County Catholic) broke out of their first half shooting funk to shoot a combined 88 percent and score 38 of the teams 43 points.

Johnson rattled off six straight points in a minute span to bring the score to 66-60 in favor of the Yellow Jackets with 6:37 to play. After a free throw by B-W's Davis, Straub hit a jumper to cut the deficit to five points.

A 7-2 run by B-W seemed like it might seal the fate of the Tartans but the visiting team battled back to score seven straight unanswered points. Johnson converted a conventional three-point play to bring the Tartans within three points of the lead, 74-71, with just fewer than two minutes to go.

A trey by Aufmuth was the final dagger, as he nailed the shot from three feet behind the arc with the shot clock running down and 51 seconds to play. Two free throws by Brendan Schuler were the last points of the game for the 79-71 final.

"They have great three-point shooters and we knew it. We gave them too many open looks and our defenders backed off just like on the shot by Aufmuth," commented Tartan Head Coach Tony Wingen.

Barlow-Wilcox and Johnson led the Tartans with 17 points apiece, while Straub hit three treys on his way to 13 points. Barlow-Wilcox collected his 10th double-double of the year with a game-high 11 rebounds. Maurer also scored in double digits with 11 points.

Davis totaled a game-high 25 points and grabbed eight boards and blocked five shots for the Yellow Jackets. Schuler finished with 16 points and four treys, while Aufmuth tallied 14.

"It was a disappointing night. We didn't play to our potential in the first half; they didn't get to see what we were made of. It hurts when you miss a lot of lay-ups. You aren't going to win many games with how we performed in the first half with those lay-ups."

"I'm proud of the way the guys played in the second half, just like they played all year. This group of seniors made it a special season."