Men’s Basketball Drop 88-79 Contest at Washington

(ST. LOUIS, Mo.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team faced Washington University on its home court Sunday, February 12.  The Tartans dropped an 88-79 contest to the Bears in University Athletic Association (UAA) play.  Carnegie Mellon is now 7-15, 2-9 as the Bears move to 17-5, 9-2.

Carnegie Mellon grabbed the opening tip as sophomore Christian Manoli (San Rafael, Calif./Terra Linda) drove the lane and gave the Tartans a 2-0 lead.  The Tartans then were held without a field goal over the next five minutes, as Washington built an 11-3 lead at the 14:48 mark of the first half.

The Tartans caught fire, as they converted eight of their next nine shots including going 4-4 from behind the arc, grabbing a 23-17 lead at 9:35.  Over the next two minutes, Washington scored nine straight reclaiming the lead at 26-23.

Washington tied its largest lead of the half on a pair of foul shots by senior Dylan Richter with 57 seconds left in the half, but the Tartans closed the cap to 40-39 at the break.  The Tartans eight unanswered points started with back-to-back treys by junior Andre Moore (Bowie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) followed by a fast-break layup by senior John Duhring (Round Hill, Va./St. Maria Goretti).  Duhring's bucket was setup by sophomore Asad Meghani's (Dallas, Texas/The Greenhill School) steal with nine ticks left in the half.

The Bears took a 60-52 lead before the Tartans scored seven, five by Duhring and a fast-break layup by Meghani, making the score 60-59.  Washington responded pushing its lead to 70-63 with 8:20 left in the contest.

Carnegie Mellon did not go away, as Duhring made a three-point game (73-70) on a layup with five minutes to play, but a 10-2 run for the home team gave the Bears a double digit lead as the held on for the 88-79 victory.

Washington finished the contest shooting 53% from the field and connected on 3-of-14 from behind the arc.  Carnegie Mellon shot 47% from the floor while shooting 42% (11-26) from behind the three-point line.  

Duhring led the Tartans with a game-high 23 points.  Three other Tartans scored in double figures with Moore cashing in with 16, Meghani with 15 and Manoli 10.  Manoli dished out a career-high eight assists in the setback.

Washington was led by Richter's 21 points while Alex Toth finished with 18 and Chris Klimek and Tom Cooney each had 15.  The Bears Ben Hoener led the team with eight assists.

The Tartans will return home to face Emory University at 8:00 p.m. in Skibo Gymnasium on Friday, February 17.