Meghani Breaks Three-Point Career Mark in Overtime Loss at New York

(NEW YORK, N.Y.) - Despite a school-record performance by senior Asad Meghani (Dallas, Texas/The Greenhill School) and a career-best performance by junior Seth Cordts (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan), the Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaking 92-86 overtime University Athletic Association (UAA) contest at New York University on Friday, February 7.  Carnegie Mellon is now 10-9, 3-5 while New York moves to 14-5, 4-4.

Meghani became the school's all-time leader in three-point field goals made after converting 7-of-9 from behind the arc.  Meghani now has 205 treys for his career and passed Dom Ionadi (1998-02) on the all-time Tartan charts.

Following a 9-0 run by NYU to start the contest, Carnegie Mellon scored the next eight to cut the deficit to one at the 16-minute mark.  The Violets then pushed the lead to 17-12 before the visitors rattled off five straight to knot the score at 17-17 with nine minutes to play in the half.

The two squads went back-and-forth over the next five minutes with the score being tied on four occasions.  Carnegie Mellon took its first lead of the game when Meghani connected on back-to-back three-pointers, giving the Tartans a 31-27 lead with four minutes to play.

New York then scored nine straight points to claim a 36-31 lead before Cordts drained a long ball from the corner at the end of the half to cut the lead to 36-34 at the break. At the half, Meghani led all scorers with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor including a 4-of-5 effort from behind the arc.  

After NYU built a 50-41 lead five minutes into the second half, Carnegie Mellon used a 10-3 run that ended with back-to-back treys by senior Christian Manoli (San Rafael, Calif./Terra Linda) which cut the lead to 53-51 with 12:28 to play in the game.

Carnegie Mellon knotted the score at 74-74 on another long ball from the corner by Cordts with 2:58 to play in regulation. NYU's Evan Kupferberg put the home team ahead 76-74 on a layup with 2:01 to play.  Following a made foul shot by the Violets' Patrick Burns with 27 seconds left in the second half, Cordts drained his fourth triple of the game and third from the corner to knot the score at 77-77 with 10.4 ticks on the clock.  After a missed trey by NYU in the closing seconds, the game went into overtime.

In overtime, NYU grabbed an 88-83 lead, but Meghani kept the Tartans alive with his record breaking three-pointer with 13.2 seconds left.  Kupferberg was fouled and converted both charity stripe shots to seal the victory for the Violets.
 
It marked the 50th straight contest dating back to his sophomore season that Meghani made a three-pointer, as the senior finished the game with a career-high 27 points.  The seven treys made by Meghani was also a career-best and was one shy of the school's single-game record. Cordts tallied a career-best 18 points while senior Rashaun Riley (Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek) also cashed in with 18.  Manoli also was in double figures with 15.

Kupferberg led NYU with 27 points and hauled in a game-high seven rebounds.

Carnegie Mellon now heads to Brandeis University where they will face the Judges on Sunday, February 9 at 12:00 p.m.