Tartans Drop Road Game to No. 6 Washington U.

(ST. LOUIS, Mo.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team faced sixth-ranked Washington University on the road Friday night in St. Louis, Missouri. The Tartans fell 93-80 to the Bears and are now 10-9 overall and 4-4 in the University Athletic Association.

Senior Jack Serbin (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) hit the game's opening bucket with a jumper off the glass and the Tartans later held an 11-10 lead after a fastbreak layup by junior Ryan Maha (West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin) with 14:08 showing on the clock. Four minutes later, the Tartans trailed 17-16 after a driving layup by freshman Colin McNeil (Ringoes, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional).

The Bears (16-3, 8-0) then scored seven straight and after two free throws by McNeil, watched as a three-pointer by Jake Knupp went thru the net at the shot clock buzzer to push their lead to 26-18.

The lead grew to 16 points by the end of the half with the Bears scoring the final five points following a pair of free throws by senior James Ormond (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont).

The Tartans shot 40.7% from the field but surrendered 65.4% to the Bears on the defensive end for the half. McNeil led the Tartans with 10 points at the break as Serbin and senior Chris Shkil (Mentor, Ohio/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) were each saddled with foul trouble and held to four points apiece.

An 8-2 run for the Tartans to start the second half cut the deficit to 10 points after a three-pointer by Maha from the top of the key.

Three times the Tartans pulled to within six points with half the period still to play but the Bears methodically ran their lead back to 13 on two shots from the foul line by Matt Highsmith with 6:12 left to go.

A jumper by Serbin with one minute to play saw the Tartans trail 87-80 but four free throws sandwiched a layup and the Bears went on for the 93-80 home victory.

Serbin led five players in double figures with 18 points while Maha dropped in 15 points. Shkil followed with 13 points, as McNeil finished with 12 and freshman Zach Howarth (Freehold, N.J./St. John Vianney) scored 11. Serbin and Shkil each pulled down eight rebounds.

The Bears were led by Andrew Sanders who finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Kevin Kucera recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists while Matt Highsmith contributed 18 points off the bench.

The Tartans will next visit the University of Chicago on Sunday, February 5 at 11:00 a.m. CT. The Maroons topped Case Western Reserve University Friday, 99-73, to move to 12-7 overall and 4-4 in the UAA.