Men’s Basketball Clips Wings of Redhawks

Dec. 4 – (PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon men’s basketball team put together a solid team performance on Tuesday, December 4 as they defeated the visiting La Roche Redhawks 77-58 in Skibo Gymnasium. The Tartans improve their record to 4-2 on the season, while La Roche drops to 2-5.

The Tartans, missing two starters due to injury, had players fill the void and deliver throughout the game. Sophomore forward Jon Wolleben (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) came off the bench to provide some early scoring for Carnegie Mellon en route to a career-high 16 points (14 in the first half) and a career-high 11 rebounds. Sophomore forward Ryan Einwag (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) came into the game as the team’s leading scorer, but he was a jack-of-all-trades in the game, registering 12 points, a career-high six assists, five rebounds, and three blocks.

Carnegie Mellon took a 42-29 lead into halftime thanks in part to shooting 51.5% and holding La Roche to 35.5%. Carnegie Mellon’s strong defense carried over into the second half, as it highlighted their 13-4 run over the first seven minutes. A jumper with 7:33 remaining by Wolleben gave the Tartans their biggest lead of the game at 26, 66-40.

Freshman forward Dan Sawl (Irwin, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) came off the bench to pick up where Wolleben left off in the first half. Sawl scored 10 of his 12 points in the final half on 6-of-8 shooting. Sophomore guard Elliot Curtis (Brookline, Mass.) tallied five assists off the bench and reserve sophomore center Dan Martin (Boardman, Ohio) added a career-high nine points and five rebounds. Sophomore center Rob Pearson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood) led all players with 12 rebounds, nine coming in the second half. Forward Adam Kostewicz and guard Dylan Grazier scored 11 points apiece to lead La Roche.

The Tartans shot 47.1% for the game compared to La Roche’s 31.8%. Carnegie Mellon held a 36-24 advantage in points in the paint and registered 21 assists to the Redhawks’ nine.