Men’s Basketball Drop Heartbreaker at #20 Emory

(ATLANTA, Ga.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday and dropped a heartbreaker 82-77 to the 20th-ranked Eagles of Emory University in University Athletic Association (UAA) play. Carnegie Mellon is now 4-9 overall and 0-2 in the UAA, as Emory moves to 11-2, 2-0.

Carnegie Mellon shot 51.7% from the floor for the game to Emory's 44.6%. It marked the second time this season all five Tartan starters scored in double figures. Senior Ryan Maha (West Mifflin, Pa.) led the Tartans with 15 points. The senior moved into sole possession of fourth all-time on the school's three-pointers made list after making five. He now has 170 for his career and has made at least one three-point bucket in 24 straight games dating back to last season.

Sophomore Trent Suddeth (Winter Park, Fla./Trinity Prep) recorded 13 points, junior Seth Henry (Fulton, Md./Reservoir) tabbed 11 and sophomores Zach Howarth (Freehold, N.J./St. John Vianney) and Colin McNeil (Ringoes, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional) each had 10. McNeil dished out a team-best seven assists in the setback.

The Eagles were led by Adam Gigax who finished with 26 points after connecting on 6-of-14 from behind the arc. Christopher Avant scored 15 points, Gabereal Baitey had 14 and Beau Bommarito ended with 12 points after converting 10-of-11 from the foul line.

Emory started the game scoring the first seven points and extended its lead to 12-2 three minutes into game after connecting on five of its first seven shots. Over the next four minutes, Carnegie Mellon used a 10-5 run to make the score 17-12 with 13 minutes to play in the first half.

The home team pushed its lead to 26-19 at the 7:43 mark, but back-to-back triples by Maha and Howarth pulled the Tartans deficit to 26-25 with just under seven minutes to play. For the second time in a three-minute span, Emory went ahead by seven at 32-25, but an 8-2 run by the Tartans, which included a pair of treys by sophomore Cooper Williams (Meriden, N.H./Kimball Union Academy), made the score 34-33 with two minutes on the clock before the Eagles took a 36-33 lead into the break.

Carnegie Mellon started the second half connecting on seven of its first nine shots and took a 49-41 lead following a three-pointer by Maha five minutes into the frame. Emory answered with an 11-2 run over the next three minutes and took back the lead, 52-51, at the 12-minute mark.

Over the next nine minutes the lead changed hands 10 times and the score was tied four times with neither team leading by more than three points. With Emory leading 72-71 with possession and the shot clock running out, Gigax's 24-foot long ball put the home team ahead 75-71 with 1:09 to play. A made layup by Suddeth and Howarth sandwiched with a made foul shot by Emory left the score 76-75 with 26.7 seconds remaining. Down the stretch, Emory converted 6-of-6 from the foul line and held on for the 82-77 victory. After Emory took an 80-77 lead with 6.6 seconds left, Bommarito stole the inbounds pass and was fouled. He then sank to from the line to seal the game.

Carnegie Mellon will travel to the University on Rochester on Sunday, January 14 for a 12:00 p.m. tip.