Bears Get Revenge Over Tartans With 79-68 Win

Feb. 8 – (ST. LOUIS, Mo.) – Carnegie Mellon University's men's basketball team did all they could to win back-to-back against Washington University in St. Louis but Danny O'Boyle had something to say about it as he scored a career-high 25 points and tied a career-high with seven made three-pointers in a game as the #9 Bears won 79-68 in St. Louis. The Tartans are now 13-6 overall and 3-5 in the University Athletic Association as the Bears move to 15-4 and 6-2.

The Tartans went up by 10 in the first half on a three-pointer from the top of the key by senior forward Greg Gonzalez (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) that made the score 22-12. A timeout by the Bears ignited a 20-3 run in which Danny O'Boyle hit three straight treys to give the home team their first lead at 27-25 before they stretched the lead to 31-25 following a five-point possession thanks to a technical foul called on the Tartans bench. O'Boyle hit two free throws and Tyler Nading made a driving lay-up to. The lead was the Bears first since the 18 minute mark of the half.

Carnegie Mellon pulled within three with 45 seconds to play in the first period on a jumper by sophomore guard Jack Anderson (Beaver Falls, Pa.), a put back lay-up by junior forward Rob Pearson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood) and a free throw by senior guard Geoff Kozak (Huntingdon, Pa.). However Boyle would put the lead back to six with his fourth three-pointer of the half with three seconds to go.

The Tartans opened the second half with a 7-0 run to regain the lead with three straight hoops. The Bears slowly chipped at the Tartans' lead which reached six on a lay-up by Anderson at the 14:03 point and back-to-back treys by O'Boyle gave the Bears the advantage for good starting with 8:51 to play.

Anderson pulled the Tartans within two points with five minutes to play with a three-pointer and continued to keep the Tartans within striking distance hitting a trey with 3:23 to go making the score 69-65 in favor of the Bears. A lay-in by Aaron Thompson with one second showing on the shot clock propelled the home team to a 10-0 run over the last three minutes before Anderson hit a three from the corner to finish the scoring for both squads.

Anderson finished with a career-high 19 points for the Tartans while Gonzalez totaled 15 points and nine rebounds in the loss. Kozak was everywhere on the floor chipping in 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Following O'Boyle for the Bears was Nading and Troy Ruths with 20 points apiece. Nading and Ruths also grabbed seven boards each while the teams nearly shot identical for the game with the Bears hitting 47.1% and the Tartans hitting 47.2%.

Carnegie Mellon continues their four-game road trip with a 12:00 p.m. CT tip at the University of Chicago on Sunday, February 10.