Hot Shooting Pushes Tartans Past Chatham in DoubleTree Invitational

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team opened the Carnegie Mellon DoubleTree Invitational with an 80-53 win against Chatham University on Saturday, November 25. The Tartans move to 2-1 on the season with the win while Chatham falls to 2-2.

The Tartans opened the game with a 6-0 run behind two buckets from junior Patrick Ehland (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon). The Cougars scored their first bucket with 15:37 showing on the clock. After the Cougars scored, the Tartans extended their lead to 16 points with a 17-5 run over the next six minutes. Senior Ryan Maha (West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin) drained his second three-pointer to close the run with 9:39 to play in the first half.

Six minutes later, the Tartans held their largest lead of the half when sophomore Cooper Williams (Meriden,N.H./Kimball Union Academy) hit a three-pointer to make the score 39-17. Buzz Walker closed the half with a layup for the Cougars, making the score 43-24.

The Tartans shot 60.0% from the floor for the half and hit 5-of-9 from long distance while committing just three turnovers for the half.

Ehland scored six of the Tartans' first eight points of the second half and finished the game 7-of-8 from the field for a season-high 15 points.

The Tartans continued their hot shooting through the second half, finishing the game with a 61.1% effort from the field and a season-best 10 made three-pointers. The field-goal percentage was the best for the Tartans since the 2014 season when the team shot 61.5% against Franciscan.

Maha hit his fourth and final three-pointer with 2:44 to play to give the Tartans their largest lead at 78-48 before the final buzzer sounded with the Tartans earning the 80-53 win. Maha finished with a season-high 14 points.

Sophomore Trent Suddeth (Winter Park, Fla./Trinity Prep) led the Tartans off the bench in rebounding with eight boards while sophomore Zach Howarth (Freehold, N.J./St. John Vianney) grabbed seven rebounds. Howarth and sophomore Colin McNeil (Ringoes, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional) each dished out five assists with Williams finishing with a career-best 12 points.

Next up for the Tartans is the University of Mary Washington who defeated Baruch College, 69-54, in the first game of the DoubleTree Invitational. Tip off for the Tartans and Eagles will be 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 26.