Tartans Hang On To Edge Case Western Reserve 70-66

Feb. 24 – (PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – Senior center Greg Gonzalez’s (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) career-high 21 rebounds and balanced scoring from the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans propelled them to a 70-66 victory over the visiting Case Western Reserve University Spartans in University Athletic Association (UAA) play on Sunday. The Tartans had their 17 point lead cut down to three in the second half, but they prevailed to improve their record to 16-8 overall and 6-7 in the UAA. With the defeat, Case Western falls to 7-17 overall and 0-13 in the UAA.

Both teams struggled at making shots in the first twenty minutes of action. The Tartans were ice cold from three point land and Case had their hands full in the rebounding department with Gonzalez pulling down 12 first-half rebounds. The Tartans built up a 20-11 lead after a jumper by sophomore guard Jack Anderson (Beaver Falls, Pa.) at the 10:48 mark and later maintained an eight point advantage before Case freshman guard Colin Mulholland knocked down back-to-back three pointers to cut the Tartan lead to 26-24 with 4:02 remaining in the half. The Tartans increased their lead to five points at 29-24 heading into halftime.

Junior guard Corey O’Rourke (Merion, Pa./St. Joe Prep) scored Carnegie Mellon’s first eight points in the second half courtesy of a lay-up and back-to-back three pointers and the Tartans held their first double-digit lead of the game at 37-26. Their lead increased to as much as 17 at 52-35 after a jumper from junior forward Terrance Bouldin-Johnson (Tukwila, Wash./O’Dea). The Tartans could not put the Spartans away, and Case stormed back with an 18-4 run over the next seven minutes. Senior guard Geoff Kozak (Huntingdon, Pa.) nailed a three-pointer to make Carnegie Mellon’s lead six points but Case’s freshman point guard Kevin Herring responded with a three of his own. Carnegie Mellon got the ball inside on their next couple possessions and Gonzalez was able to draw the foul and connect on his free throws to maintain their slim advantage.

It was a three point game with 49 seconds left after a basket from Case’s freshman center Eric Duerr. With 31 seconds left junior forward Ryan Einwag (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) was fouled and hit both his free throws to make it a two possession game and the Tartans went on to win by four.

Einwag finished with a team-high 16 points and Gonzalez contributed 12 points to collect his fourth straight double-double. Anderson came off the bench to score 12 points and Bouldin-Johnson added 10 points before fouling out. Case was led by Herring’s 16 points and senior guard Brandon Bradford’s 15. Duerr registered a career-high six blocks to go with his 12 points in the loss.

The Carnegie Mellon men’s basketball team will conclude their regular season and UAA schedule on Saturday, March 1 when they host the University of Rochester in Skibo Gymnasium. The game is set to start at 4:00 p.m.