Tartans Comeback Falls Short at Rochester

(ROCHESTER, N.Y.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team dropped a 65-60 contest to the University of Rochester in University Athletic Association (UAA) action, Friday, January 23. The Tartans fall to 10-5 and 1-3 while the Yellowjackets move to 5-10 and 1-3.

The Tartans held a 33-30 halftime advantage after 12 lead changes during the period. Senior Jasen Blakney (Raleigh, N.C./Enloe) drained a three-pointer to give the Tartans a 33-28 lead before two free throws by Rochester's Sam Borst-Smith finished the scoring for the half.

Junior Blake Chasen (Chevy Chase, Md./Phillips Exeter (N.H.)) scored seven of the Tartans' first-half points, including a three-pointer that gave the Tartans a 28-26 lead.

After a Jack Serbin (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) layup gave the Tartans a 37-34 lead in the second half, the Yellowjackets went on a 14-0 run to lead by 11 with 11:56 to play. Sophomore Chris Shkil (Mentor, Ohio/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) stopped the home team's run and scored four straight to pull the Tartans back to within single digits.

With six minutes to play and down by 11, senior Seth Cordts (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) led the Tartans on a 7-0 run with five points to trail 58-54 with 1:32 to go. Junior Jason Sebak (New Kensington, Pa./Kiski Prep) then nailed a three-pointer with a minute to play to cut the deficit to three, 60-57.

On Rochester's next possession and with the shot clock winding down, Borst-Smith converted a driving layup and ensueing free throw to put the Yellowjackets back up by six with 27.3 to play and Rochester went on to finish the game, winning by a final 65-60 score.

The Tartans struggled from the field all night making just 18-of-50 attempts from the field, recording a .360 percentage, just the third time all year the team shot below 41%. Rochester didn't shoot any better, finishing at 33.3% from the field but did score 23 points off 19 Tartan mishaps and 17 second-chance points off 17 offensive boards.

Serbin finished as the Tartans' leading scorer with 11 points, as Shkil tied a career-high with 10 points. Serbin also grabbed 12 boards to record his eighth double-double of the year. Borst-Smith led the Yellowjackets with 20 points while he picked up five steals.

Carnegie Mellon next travels to Atlanta, Georgia, where it will face the No. 12 Emory University Eagles (12-3, 2-2) on Sunday, January 25 at 12:00 p.m.