Tartans Fall 79-59 at #7 Washington U.

(ST. LOUIS, Mo.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team headed west on Friday, January 30 to play the seventh-ranked Bears of Washington University in St. Louis in University Athletic Association (UAA) play.  Carnegie Mellon dropped to 10-7, 1-5 in UAA play with a 79-59 setback to the Bears who improve to 15-2, 4-2.

Carnegie Mellon jumped out to an early 4-2 lead before Washington used a 14-1 over a five minute stretch and took a 16-5 lead with 13:35 on the clock in the first half.  The Tartans cut the lead to 23-18 four-and-a-half minutes later when senior Jasen Blakney (Raleigh, N.C./Enloe) drained a three-pointer.

With 4:28 to play in the first half, sophomore Chris Shkil (Mentor, Ohio/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) pulled the Tartans to within two (31-29), but Washington closed the half on an 11-3 run to push its halftime lead back to double figures at 42-32.

The Bears scored seven straight points over a two minute stretch early in the second half to extend their lead to 53-39.  Midway through the half, Carnegie Mellon cut the lead to 58-48 on a layup by sophomore Jack Serbin (New Albany, Ohio), but Washington answered with 10 straight that made the score 68-48.  

Washington finished the contest shooting 41.7% (30-72) from the field and connected while Carnegie Mellon shot 42.0% (21-50).  Serbin led the Tartans with 17 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.  Senior Seth Cordts (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) and Shkil finished with nine apiece.  Senior Kevin Stursberg (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Jacksonville Episcopal) hauled in eight rebounds in the setback for the Tartans while Serbin recorded four blocks.

Nick Burt led four Bears in double figures with a game-high 20 points. Mitch Styczynski tabbed 15 and Matt Palucki and David Fatoki each had 11.  Fatoki dished out 12 assists and recorded eight steals for the Bears.

The Tartans will continue UAA play on Sunday, February 1 when they travel to the University of Chicago for a 12:00 p.m. CST tip.