March Madness doesn’t come around that often at Carnegie Mellon, where grade-point averages, test scores and classroom performance carry more clout than scoring, rebounding and shooting percentage. But this past season, the Tartans’ athletic performance matched their academic prowess as their record-setting 19 victories earned them their first postseason appearance in 28 years.
Led by junior forwards Clayton Barlow-Wilcox (18.5 ppg, 8.2 rpg) and Nate Maurer (17.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and senior guard Michael Divens (14.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg), the Tartans posted a 19-7 overall mark and placed second in the University Athletic Association (UAA) with a 10-4 conference slate. Barlow-Wilcox and Maurer were voted first-team All-UAA by league coaches and Divens was a second-team selection.
Carnegie Mellon’s 19 wins was a school record, surpassing its 18 victories in 1976-77, and their conference mark was their best since joining the league in 1987. The Tartans’ 19 wins included 10 in a row from Dec. 1 through Jan. 21.
“To say the least, this year was a lot of fun! And it was especially rewarding that our seniors, Michael Divens, Jason Walters, Eliot Goren, Michael Gibson, Quintin Stotts, Baris Polat, Gray Cole, and Even Gelacek, could have such success in their final season. This group improved each year, winning nine, 11, 14 and then 19 games,” said Head Coach Tony Wingen, who was named UAA Coach-of-the-Year.
After falling one game shy of winning the UAA championship and earning the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament, the Tartans were invited to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region Tournament, where they were seeded second in the eight-team field.
In first-round action the Tartans defeated Gettysburg 66-60 in Skibo Gym for their first-ever postseason victory. Barlow-Wilcox led the way with 20 points, followed by Divens with 17 and Maurer with 12. After a sluggish first half, the Tartans picked up the pace shooting 53 percent from the field and netting 18 of 21 at the foul line, including 12 in a row in the last several minutes to seal the deal. Their full-court pressure defense held the Bullets to 27 second-half points, but the big difference came at the foul stripe. The Tartans canned 26 of 32 from the line, while the Bullets made 7 of 10.
In the ECAC South semifinals, Carnegie Mellon fell to Catholic University, 85-76, despite Maurer’s season-high 32 points.
The only other time the Tartans advanced to postseason play was during the 1976-77 season, when they lost to Wittenberg University, 82-68, in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament.
With Barlow-Wilcox and Maurer returning for their senior seasons next year, Wingen is optimistic about the 2005-06 campaign.
“Although we lose a tremendous group of seniors, I'm very excited about next season,” Wingen says. “We have a talented group of returning players that have experienced success - and they want it to continue. The future looks really bright.”
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