Violets Upset #24 Tartans 63-58 in Men’s Basketball

Jan. 20 – (PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The #24 ranked Carnegie Mellon University men’s basketball team squandered their opportunities and the visiting New York University Violets executed down the stretch to come away with a hard fought road victory in the University Athletic Association (UAA). The Violets knocked off the Tartans by the score of 63-58 to improve their record to 10-4 overall and 1-2 in the UAA, while the Tartans lose their second straight to fall to 10-4 overall and 0-3 in the UAA.

The Tartans controlled the start of the game behind strong defense and timely shooting to take a 16-5 lead with 12:53 remaining. Junior forward Ryan Einwag (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) started the scoring with a three-pointer off a pass from senior guard Geoff Kozak (Huntingdon, Pa.) and went on to score a team-high nine points in the first half. The Tartans increased their lead to 24-9 with 7:53 remaining before NYU stormed back. NYU went on a 19-4 run over the next 6:18 thanks to reserve forward John Mish’s scoring spree. Mish shot 7-8 from the field and finished the first half with 17 points nearly doubling his previous career-high of nine. The Tartans managed to stop the bleeding and score the final four points of the half to take a 32-28 lead into halftime.

Back to back three pointers from Kozak turned a 50-47 Violet lead into a 53-50 Tartan advantage with 4:32 remaining in the game. NYU then took the lead for good in what was arguably the biggest play of the game, as Mish made the lay-up, drew the foul, and made the free throw to give the Violets a 55-53 lead with 3:23 left. The Tartans struggled from this point on, turning the ball over on three of their next four possessions, including a crucial miscue when they were down 57-55 with 33 seconds remaining. Sophomore forward Keith Jensen came up huge for the Violets, making all six of his free throws in the final minute and scoring 13 points in the second half. Kozak hit another three with seven seconds left but it was too little too late and the Violets prevailed by five.

Mish finished with a career-high 24 points off the bench and Jensen’s strong second half put him at 15 points for the game. Einwag led Carnegie Mellon with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Junior guard Corey O’Rourke (Merion, Pa./St. Joe Prep) played well for the Tartans, scoring 11 points, hitting two triples and dishing out six assists. Senior center Greg Gonzalez (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) finished with ten points and six boards in the loss.

The Tartans finished at 39.3% shooting from the field while the Violets shot 44.9%. The Violets shot 17-of-19 from the free throw line whereas the Tartans struggled, shooting 7-of-12.

The Carnegie Mellon men’s team will next be in action on Friday, January 25 when they head to Cleveland to take on the Case Western Reserve Spartans. The game is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m.