Hot Shooting Spartans Drop Tartans in UAA Opener

(CLEVELAND, Ohio) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team ran into a hot shooting day for the Spartans of Case Western Reserve University and suffered a 94-63 University Athletic Association (UAA) season-opening loss on the road, Saturday, January 6. The Tartans are now 4-8 on the year while the Spartans move to 7-5.

Junior Seth Henry (Fulton, Md./Reservoir) scored the first nine points of the game for the Tartans but the Cardinal and Gray trailed for the entirety of the first half as the Spartans hit 7-of-17 attempts from long range and built a 47-35 halftime advantage.

The Spartans, who shot 58.1% in the first half, opened the second half with three straight buckets while the Tartans missed their first six shots before sophomore Colin McNeil (Ringoes, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional) drove the length of the court for a layup in traffic 3:48 into the period.

McNeil's layup sparked a 10-2 run for the Tartans where senior Ryan Maha (West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin) hit two jumpers before McNeil connected with sophomore Zach Howarth (Freehold, N.J./St. John Vianney) on a backdoor cut for a layup off the glass to cut the deficit to 12 at 57-45 with 12:33 to go.

After the Tartans cut it to 12 for the second time in the half on a layup by freshman Zach Watson (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome), the Spartans went on a 24-7 run to lead by 29 points with just under five minutes to play.

Henry led the Tartans with 16 points while Maha finished with 14 and McNeil 10. McNeil led the team with five assists, as Howarth dished out four assists.

The Spartans, who were hot from the field all game, were led by Antonio Ionadi and T.J. Duckett with 15 points apiece. The Spartans finished with 13 made three-pointers and shot 60.7% from the floor while the Tartans made 3-of-16 from distance and shot 39.4% from the field.

Carnegie Mellon will stay on the road for its next contest when the team travels to Atlanta, Georgia, to face Emory University at 8:00 p.m.