Men's Basketball Wins Sixth Straight Defeating Averett 70-62

Jan. 11 – (PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Tartans of Carnegie Mellon University squared off against the Averett University Cougars in men’s basketball on Friday, January 11 at home in Skibo Gymnasium. In a game that stayed close throughout, the Tartans prevailed 70-62 to rack up their sixth straight win and improve to 9-2 on the season. Averett drops to 6-7 with the loss.

The Tartans took the lead from the start and built a 21-10 lead at the 10:35 mark of the first half after a made free throw from freshman forward Shane Rife (Mercersburg, Pa./James Buchanan). The Cougars responded with a 22-8 run of their own and took their first lead of the game at 30-29 courtesy of a lay-up from junior forward Damien Brown with 1:41 remaining in the half. The Cougars went into halftime leading 32-31.

Rife’s lay-up with 14:51 remaining gave Carnegie Mellon their first lead of the second half at 39-37. The lead was short lived as a three pointer from Averett’s senior forward Cory McDaniel pushed the Cougars lead to 45-40. The Tartans reeled off a 13-2 run to take a 53-47 lead with just under eight minutes remaining. Averett scored seven straight points only to have Carnegie Mellon answer with seven straight of their own. Carnegie Mellon took the lead for good at this point, with a 60-54 advantage at the 5:19 mark of the final stanza. The Tartans held on to their lead thanks to their solid foul shooting down the stretch to walk away with the eight point win.

Junior forward Ryan Einwag (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) led the Tartans with 14 points in a somewhat sloppy game where both teams combined for 41 turnovers. Junior guard Corey O’Rourke (Merion, Pa./St. Joe Prep) chipped in with 13 points and a game-high five steals. Senior guard Geoff Kozak (Huntingdon, Pa.) hit a pair of three pointers en route to a 12 point performance. Senior center Greg Gonzalez (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) led the Tartans with seven rebounds and four assists in the win. McDaniel poured in a game-high 18 points for Averett.

The Tartans shot over 50% in the second half to finish the game at a 44.8% clip whereas Averett finished shooting 36.5% from the field. The Tartans held a 44-35 advantage in the rebounding department and scored 42 points in the paint compared to Averett’s 26.

The Tartans will next be in action on Sunday, January 13 when they host Lycoming College in Skibo Gymnasium at 1:00 p.m.