Tartans Drop 88-75 Contest at Bethany

(BETHANY, W.Va.) – Sophomore Rashaun Riley's (Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek) career-high 24 points wasn't enough, as the Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team dropped a road contest at Bethany College 88-75 Tuesday, December 6.  The loss moves the Tartans record to 3-4 while the Bison remain unbeaten at 7-0.

The Bison jumped out to an early 7-6 lead over the first five minutes of play to see their lead grow to 19-8 with 11:05 to play in the first half.  Carnegie Mellon answered Bethany's start by scoring the next 10 points to climb within one at 19-18 over the next three and a half minutes.

On the ensuing possession down the court, Bethany's Reece Maybery drained a three-pointer to put the home team up 22-18. Tartan senior John Duhring's (Round Hill, Va./St. Maria Goretti) jumper followed by a sophomore Asad Meghani (Dallas, Texas/The Greenhill School) trey gave the Tartans their first lead of the game at 23-22 with six minutes to play in the first.

Carnegie Mellon's lead was not long, as the Bison went on a 9-2 run to reclaim the lead at 31-25.  Over the last four minutes of the half, the Tartans converted 4-of-5 from behind the arc and Riley connected on a pair of foul shots to lift Carnegie Mellon to a 39-36 lead at the break.   

Bethany came out in the second and started on a 17-3 run over the first six minutes of play to take a 53-42 lead and never looked back.  The Tartans pulled within five at 66-61 on a Riley jumper with 5:50 to play, but never got any closer as Bethany went on for the 88-75 victory.

Besides Riley, the Tartans had two others in double figures.  Duhring and sophomore Christian Manoli (San Rafael, Calif./Terra Linda) each finished with 14 points. Senior Joe Kromka (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) hauled in a career-high 10 rebounds and tied his career-high in blocks with four in the setback.

Nick Wilcox led the Bison with 24 points, five rebounds and six steals.  Maybery finished the contest with 18 points while James Barton and Brady Pacific ended with 17 and 13, respectively.

The Tartans will play Susquehanna University on Friday, December 9 in the first round of the King's College Tournament. Tip is set for 6:00 p.m.