Men’s Basketball Opens Home Play With 121-51 Victory

Nov. 25 – (Pittsburgh, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team hosted the first day their annual Thanksgiving tournament, the Radisson/Carnegie Mellon Tournament, Saturday, November 25 at Skibo Gymnasium. The Tartans faced the Lions of Penn State Fayette and came away with a 121-51 victory. With the win the Tartans start the season 3-0 for the second straight year. The Lions drop to 0-4.

Carnegie Mellon had six players in double figures additionally every player tallied at least one point. Sophomore Corey O’Rourke (Merion, Pa./St. Joe Prep) gave the Tartans a 3-0 lead seven seconds into the contest and Carnegie Mellon would never look back. They extended their lead to 33-5 with just under 11 minutes to play in the first stanza. The Tartans would lead by as many as 39 points in the first half and took a 62-27 lead into the break.

The second half started with a 22-2 run for the Tartans over the first seven and a half minutes. Carnegie Mellon sophomore Terrance Bouldin-Johnson (Tukwila, Wash./O’Dea) would come up strong over the stretch as he recorded eight of his ten points with two powerful dunks.

Leading the way for the Tartans was junior Geoff Kozak (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) with a career-high 19 points. Freshman Dan Sawl (Irwin, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) also recorded a career-high with 17 points shooting 8-of-11 from the field. O’Rourke and freshman Jack Anderson (Beaver Falls, Pa.) cashed in with 12 points, while senior Brad Matta (White Oak, Pa./Serra Catholic) and Bouldin-Johnson had 10, respectively.

Sophomore Elliott Curtis (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) tied a school record with 11 assists. The Tartans for the game had 34 assists to the Lions five. Carnegie Mellon shot 49.1% with a school record 53 field goals made.

The 121 points scored by the Tartans sets a team record for the most scored in a game. During the 1959-60 season the Tartans recorded 119, as then Carnegie Tech defeated Slippery Rock 119-116.

Point Park defeated St. Vincent College 84-80 in the other first round game. The Tartans now will face the Pioneers at 3:00 p.m. Sunday in the championship game. The Lions will face the Bearcats in the consolation game at 1:00 p.m.