Tartans Drop 89-88 UAA Opener at Buzzer to Case Western Reserve

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team opened University Athletic Association (UAA) play on Saturday with a tough 89-88 loss to Case Western Reserve University following a tip-in at the buzzer by Ryan Newton. The Tartans are now 6-4 overall while the Spartans move to 11-1.

The Tartans shot 45.8% from the floor to the Spartans 43.0%. Carnegie Mellon had four players score in double figures with sophomore Jack Stone (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona Del Mar) leading the way with a career-high 23 points. Junior Nick Nakasian (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) and sophomore R.J. Holmes (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Adlai Stevenson) each recorded double-doubles, as it marked Holmes' fifth straight. Nakasian ended the game with 22 points and a career-high 12 rebounds with Holmes scoring 16 and hauling down 10 boards. Junior Sean Oberman (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central) chipped in with 13 points and freshman Nolan Casey ( Brooklyn, N.Y./Packer Collegiate School) recorded a career-high four blocks in the setback.

Case Western Reserve was led by Mitch Prendergast's 23 points while Robert Faller finished with 22, Newton with 13 and Cole Frilling with 11.

The Tartans trailed 17-13 six minutes into play by three straight triples from the home team gave them a 22-17 with 11:19 to play in the half. The Cardinal and Gray continued to hold the lead the rest of the first twenty minutes oof play and ended the half on a 13-2 run to take a 47-34 into the break.

Carnegie Mellon expanded its lead to 16 points are three different occasions over the first four minutes of play in the second half. Late in the half, the Spartans used an 11-3 run which tied the game at 76-76 with 5:34 to play. The Tartans then used a 10-4 run and pushed the score to 86-80, but the Spartans scored seven of the next eight points and knotted the score at 87-87 with 35 ticks left after a longball from Faller. Carnegie Mellon's junior Josh Berry (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) was fouls and sent to the line. Berry converted the front end of the one-and-one, as the second missed and the rebound was made by Holmes before being tied up for a jump ball with the possession in favor of the Spartans. On Case Western's final trip down the court, a Frilling jump shot with two seconds left bounced out, but Newton was under the hoops for the tip-in as time expired.

The Tartans will play NYU on Sunday, January 16. Tip is set for 12:00 p.m. and will be played at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, N.Y.