Men’s Basketball Collects Hard Fought 78-70 Win Over Emory

Feb. 22 – (PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – Every game in the University Athletic Association (UAA) is a 40 minute dogfight and the game Friday night in Skibo Gymnasium between the visiting Emory University Eagles and the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans proved no different. Fueled by senior center Greg Gonzalez’s (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) 23 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks, and three steals the Tartans managed the hard-earned 78-70 victory to improve to 15-8 overall and 5-7 in the UAA. The Eagles fall to 10-13 overall and 3-9 in the UAA.

Emory took the lead early in the game and led by eight halfway through the first half. Carnegie Mellon took their first lead of the game with 6:40 left in the first half on a Gonzalez lay-up off a pass by junior guard Corey O’Rourke (Merion, Pa./St. Joe Prep). Carnegie Mellon scored the last five points of the first half to lead 40-35 heading into halftime.

The Tartans used a 7-0 spurt to lead 52-41 at the 14:17 mark of the second half. Emory answered with nine unanswered points to trail only by two. The Tartans managed to capitalize on their size advantage in the post, generating points in the paint down the stretch. A Gonzalez tip-in, a lay-up by junior forward Ryan Einwag (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin), and another lay-up from Gonzalez increased the Tartan lead to nine with 6:21 remaining. Emory made things interesting down the stretch, with senior guard Spiros Ferderigos nailing a pair of contested three pointers. Emory had to resort to fouling and Carnegie Mellon connected from the charity stripe to preserve the eight-point win.

Einwag scored 17 points and Gonzalez tied a career-high with his 14 rebounds in his third straight double-double performance. Junior forward Terrance Bouldin-Johnson (Tukwila, Wash./O’Dea) contributed eight points, seven rebounds, and four blocks in the win. For Emory, Ferderigos finished with a game-high 22 points and sophomore forward Anthony Fernandez added 16 points and eight rebounds in the loss. Both teams shot around 39% from the field and each collected 43 rebounds. Ball control was pivotal as the Tartans turned the ball over only seven times whereas the Eagles committed 14 miscues.

The Tartans will be in action again on Sunday when they host the Case Western Reserve Spartans in more UAA action in Skibo Gymnasium. The game is scheduled to start at noon.