Men’s Basketball Drops 101-95 Decision to Point Park

Nov. 26 - (Pittsburgh, Pa.) - Carnegie Mellon men’s basketball team dropped a 101-95 decision to Point Park College in the championship game of the Radisson / Carnegie Mellon Tournament Sunday, November 26. The game was the battle of the unbeaten and with the victory the Pioneers improved to 11-0, while the Tartans surrendered their first loss of the season moving to 3-1.

The Tartans jumped out to an early 8-2 lead after two free throws by senior Brad Matta (White Oak, Pa./Serra Catholic) just 2:21 into play. The Pioneers would go on an 11-3 run to take the lead for the first time, 13-11, with 15:13 on the clock. The two teams would battle back-and-forth over the next fifteen minutes, as there would be five more lead changes.

Point Park junior Gary Houston broke a 51-51 tie with 1:20 on the clock after knocking in two from the charity stripe. After a missed jumper by the Tartans the Pioneers would take a 55-51 lead on the ensuing possession. Carnegie Mellon would not stay quit as they would score the final three points of the half and head into the locker room trailing by one (55-54).

The second half was just like the first as there were six lead changes and four ties. Carnegie Mellon jumped out to an early 12 point lead (69-57), as they went on a 15-2 run over the first 3:48. Point Park would not go away, as they answered the Tartans run with a 9-0 run of their own cutting the lead to 69-66 with 13:51 to play.

The Tartans would lose the lead on a jumper by Dan Muto with 10:21 on the clock. Tartans sophomore post player Dan Martin (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) would hit a jumper giving Carnegie Mellon the lead back (74-73) with 9:44 to play. Carnegie Mellon would extend their lead back to eight (84-76), but Point Park would not go away. Once again they answered the Tartans and would take the lead (88-86) with 3:01 left in regulation.

Carnegie Mellon would stand strong and regain the lead (93-92) when junior Geoff Kozak (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) hit a trey with 1:31 showing on the clock. On the Pioneers next possession the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, Brad Fusco, scored to put Point Park on top for good.

The Tartans sophomore Ryan Einwag (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) led all scores with a career-high 32 points shooting 12-of-18 from the floor. Einwag also grabbed ten rebounds for his first career double-double. Matta had 21 points, while Kozak had 13 and dished out nine assists for the Tartans. Einwag, Matta and Kozak were all named to the All-Tournament Team.

Point Park was led by Fusco as he cashed in with 19 points and grabbed 12 boards. Point Park’s Muto would also be named to the All-Tournament Team. Muto tallied 18 points and went 8-of-9 from the line.

In the consolation game St. Vincent defeated Penn State Fayette 96-59. Javille Brooks of St. Vincent was selected to the All-Tournament Team.

The Tartans will open University Athletic Association (UAA) play Saturday, December 2 when the University of Rochester travels into Skibo Gymnasium for a 4:00 p.m. tip.