Men’s Basketball Advance to ECAC Final with 69-54 Win Over Misericordia

Mar. 8 – (READING, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men’s basketball team, seeded second, traveled to Reading, Pa. Saturday afternoon to play the third seeded Cougars of Misericordia University in the semifinal game of the ECAC South Men’s Basketball Championship. The game was played on the campus of Albright College, as the Tartans came away with a 69-54 victory moving their record to 18-9 as Misericordia ends their season with a 19-10 record. The 18 wins for the Tartans ties for the third most in school history with the 1976-77 squad, as they ended the season 18-6.

With the Tartans leading 12-6 the Cougars went on a fast break, but senior Greg Gonzalez’s (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) monster block led to a transition bucket for the Tartans as sophomore Jack Anderson (Beaver Falls, Pa.) gave the Cardinal and Gray a 14-6 lead with 13:05 to play in the first.

Carnegie Mellon added another basket taking a 16-6 lead, but not before the Cougars scored nine straight cutting the deficit to 16-15 with 8:05 showing on the clock. Junior Ryan Einwag (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) put a stop to Misericordia’s run completing the traditional three-point play putting the Tartans ahead 19-15.

Einwag gave the Tartans a 23-15 lead hitting four more from the charity strip. Misericordia would not go away as they answered the Tartans run and junior Vinny Baumunk’s trey with 4:04 to play in the first stanza tied the score at 23. For the rest of the half back-and-forth basketball was played as the teams headed into the locker room tied at 28. Einwag led all scorers after the first twenty minutes with 16 points and the Cougars were led by Baumunk’s ten first half points.

Following two lead changes and three ties to start the second half, Carnegie Mellon took a 45-41 lead with 11:35 to play in regulation. The Tartans over the next four minutes went on an 11-1 run taking a 56-42 lead off a lay-up by Einwag. The Cardinal and Gray never looked back going onto the 69-54 victory.

Einwag led the Tartans with 25 points and added 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Gonzalez and Anderson were the only other Tartans in double figures with 16 and 10, respectively. Baumunk was the Cougars leading scoring finishing with 12 points.

For the twentieth time this season Carnegie Mellon held the edge on the glass hauling in 35 boards to Misericordia’s 30. The Tartans shot 46% from the field, 58% in the second half, as the Cougars shot 38% from the field for the game after shooting 48% in the first half.

The Tartans will play the winner of the Albright / Gwynedd-Mercy game Sunday, March 9 in the championship game of the 2008 ECAC South Tournament. Tip is slated for 2:00 p.m.