Tartans Finish Off Redhawks 76-63

Jan. 3 – (PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team traveled 15 miles down the road to visit La Roche College in non-conference action and left for home with a 76-63 victory. The Tartans improve their record to 7-2 while La Roche drops to 5-6 on the season.

The first half was fairly sloppy for the Tartans but they managed to hold a halftime lead of 33-32. Ten turnovers didn't help their cause as the Redhawks turned them into 11 points and shot 48.1% from the floor.

Sophomore guard Jack Anderson (Beaver Falls, Pa.) led the Tartans with 10 first half points while senior forward Greg Gonzalez (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) dropped in eight points and pulled down six boards as the Tartans shot 46.2% from the field.

The Cardinal and Gray came out of the locker room on fire making their first three attempts to push their lead to five. Defense and rebounds helped the Tartans shut down the Redhawk offense which scored just seven points over a seven-and-a-half minute span while the Tartans went on an 18-7 run.

After a Redhawk basket, Carnegie Mellon went on a 7-0 streak before La Roche pulled the game within nine points after their own 13-3 run. The Tartans would allow just four points over the final 4:44 to finish with the 13-point win.

During the Tartans 18-7 run, junior guard Ryan Einwag (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) and junior guard Corey O'Rourke (Merion, Pa./St. Joe Prep) each scored seven while senior guard Geoff Kozak (Huntingdon, Pa.) stole the ball in the backcourt for a layup.

Einwag led all scorers with 16 while Gonzalez tallied a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

The Tartans continue on the road with a contest against Juniata College on Saturday, January 5th at 7:00 p.m.