Tartans Win Thriller in Double Overtime at King’s

(WILKES-BARRE, Pa.) – Late free throws in the second overtime period lift the Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team to a 112-106 victory over King's College in the consolation game of the PNC Monarch Classic hosted by King's College.  With the 112-106 double overtime win, the Tartans improve to 4-5 on the season while the Monarchs fall to 4-5.

King's led throughout the first half after getting out to a hot 7-2 start on the Tartans.  Carnegie Mellon brought the game to a 35-35 tie when senior John Duhring (Round Hill, Va./Saint Maria Goretti) made a layup with 2:10 remaining in the half.

The Monarchs finished the half strong when Kyle Hammonds converted two free throws following a team technical foul on the Tartans.  They also scored on the ensuing possession making the score 45-36. Duhring hit a three-pointer with seven seconds left in the half sending his team to the locker room trailing by six, 45-39.

Trailing by 10 points, 62-52, with 11:46 remaining in the game, the Tartans started their comeback.  The deficit narrowed to two points when sophomore Sean Brophy (Blue Bell, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) hit a three-point shot bringing the score to 66-64 with nine minutes remaining in regulation.

The Tartans took their first lead of the day when Duhring made a jump shot putting his team up two points, 70-68, with 4:30 remaining in the second half.  Carnegie Mellon didn't lead for long though, as the Monarchs connected on a three-point shot on the next possession giving them a one point lead.

The Tartans regained the lead and took a six-point lead at 83-77 with 43 seconds remaining in the game on sophomore Marshall Massengale's (Mill Creek, Wash./Henry M. Jackson) pair of free throws.  

On King's next possession down the court, Tim O'Shea connected from three. King's began fouling, forcing the Tartans to win the game from the charity stripe.

Sophomore Christian Manoli (San Rafael, Calif./Terra Linda) missed two free throws with his team up only one, 83-82.  Duhring committed a foul on the rebound sending O'Shea to the line where he gave King's an 84-83 lead with 22 ticks left on the clock.

Manoli's clutch three with 11 seconds remaining put the Tartans up two.  The Monarchs' three-point attempt failed to go, but was rebounded by Keyton Winder and fouled, sending Winder to the line with a chance to tie the game.  Winder connected on both attempts forcing overtime with the score deadlocked at 86.

In the first overtime, Carnegie Mellon had two shots for the victory in the final five seconds but couldn't convert.  The teams headed to a second overtime tied at 99.

With a 106-103 lead, the Tartans sealed the victory converting 6-of-6 free throws down the stretch to come away with the 112-106 victory. Massengale finished with a career-high 17 points including four clutch free throws to ice the game for the Tartans. Duhring tied his career-high with 24 points and also added eight rebounds.  After fouling out at the end of regulation, Manoli ended with a season-high 22 points.

For the third time this season, the Tartans shot over 50% from the field as they ended the contest shooting 52.2% to the Monarchs 46.4%.  The Tartans are now 3-0 on the season when shooting better than 50% and have won their last 14 straight regular season contests.

Carnegie Mellon returns to action on December 21st when they visit La Roche College for a 7:30 pm tip-off.