Tartans Win First Round Game of the DoubleTree Invitational
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Penn St.-New Kensington (1-2) | 27 | 55 | 82 |
|
Carnegie Mellon (3-0) | 50 | 56 | 106 |
(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team defeated Penn State New Kensington 106-82 on the first day of the Carnegie Mellon/DoubleTree Tournament held in Skibo Gymnasium Saturday, November 30. The win improves the Tartans' record to 3-0 on the season while the Lions move to 1-2.
Carnegie Mellon started the game with back-to-back three-pointers from seniors Rashaun Riley (Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek) and Asad Meghani (Dallas, Texas/The Greenhill School) before pushing its lead to 18-4 six minutes into play. The Tartans led by as many as 30 in the first twenty minutes of play before taking a 50-27 advantage at the break.
The Tartans shot 54% (19-35) from the floor in the first half and 53% (9-17) from long range. New Kensington shot 30% (10-33) while only making two long balls in the frame finishing 2-6 from behind the arc.
Junior Kevin Stursberg (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Jacksonville Episcopal) was first to score for the Tartans in the second half hitting a jumper in the paint in the first two minutes of play. Riley, who would finish the game with 12 points, was next to score with another three-pointer.
Blazing into the second half, senior Christian Manoli (San Rafael, Calif./Terra Linda) then scored all 15 of his points with 15 minutes left to play. Within a four-minute span, he went on an 11-point scoring spree shooting 50% (6-12) from the field. Manoli also led the team with seven assists, which ties his season high.
Freshman forward Jack Serbin (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) put 14 points on the board for the Tartans. Serbin shot 80% from the field (4-5), without missing from behind the three-point line (3-3) or from the free throw line (3-3).
Finally, freshman Matt Hillman (Gaithersburg, Md./Sidwell Friends) had a career-high game scoring 10 total points, hitting four from the field and shooting 50% from the three-point range.
No. 8 Hampden-Sydney College defeated Springfield, 89-82 in overtime in the other first round game. The Tartans will face Hampden-Sydney at 3:00 p.m. Sunday in the championship game. The Lions will face Springfield in the consolation game at 1:00 p.m.
