Tartans Pull Out 68-63 Victory Over Penn State Behrend

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team defeated Penn State Behrend 68-63 in its first home game of the season Saturday night at Skibo Gymnasium. The win evens the Tartans record at 1-1 while the Lions fall to 0-2

Behrend jumped out on Carnegie Mellon 15-5 in the first six minutes of play.  The Lions largest lead came at 10:04 of the first half when they lead by 11 following a jumper by Evan Eaton.

The Tartans chipped away at the lead by holdinf Behrend to without a field goal over the last 6:15 of the half.  The Lions converted six free throws to reach their first-half total of 34.

A major factor for the Tartans in the first half was senior John Duhring (Round Hill, Va./St. Maria Goretti), who led the team scoring 17 points.  He finished the game with 17 points, six rebounds, and four assists.  His four assists ties a career-best for the senior.

Carnegie Mellon narrowed the lead to a single point, 39-38, on a jumper from sophomore guard Rashaun Riley (Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek).  Riley finished the night tying his career-highs with 13 points and four assists.

With 5:57 remaining in the game, Riley connected on a three-pointer to narrow the Lions' lead to three points, 56-53.  The Tartans came up with a big defensive stop and sophomore Sean Brophy (Blue Bell, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) hit another three-point shot for Carnegie Mellon.  His shot tied the game for the first time since the start and made the score 56-56 with 5:08 left on the clock.

Behrend extended its lead back to four and with 2:39 showing on the clock, senior Joe Kromka (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) sliced around a defender for the layup to bring the lead back within two points.  Kromka turned in a career performance on the night with 12 points.

After a missed three-point field goal for Behrend, the Tartans' sophomore Christian Manoli (San Rafael, Calif./Terra Linda) connected on a three-point shot that gave the Cardinal and Gray its first lead of the night, 64-63.  Manoli finished the night with eight points and six rebounds.

Carnegie Mellon head coach Tony Wingen elected for a timeout when his team possessed the ball up one point with 38 seconds to go.  The Lions fouled Manoli sending him to the line with 20 seconds remaining.  His foul shot missed, but Kromka gathered in the rebound.  

Brophy was fouled on the possession following the Tartans' repossession, and he converted both of his free throw attempts giving the home team the three point advantage, 66-63.

The Lions' three-point attempt to tie the game hit short on the rim.  Brophy again was sent to the line and converted both attempts giving the Tartans the 68-63 victory. Brophy wnded the contest with eight points going 5-6 from the charity stripe.  

Carnegie Mellon was 25-49 from the field shooting 51% while Behrend shot 40.8% going 20-49. Russ Conley led the way for the visitor's with 20 points while Pat St. Andrews finished with 14.

The Tartans will play again on Tuesday, November 22nd when they host Allegheny College at Skibo Gymnasium.  Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.