Shot at Buzzer Derails Tartans in Overtime 77-76

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team lost at the buzzer of overtime to Brandeis University on Sunday, February 5 after a tightly contested second and final period. An off-balance shot by Tyrone Hughes found its way thru the net for the Judges for the 77-76 win in Skibo Gymnasium. The Tartans are now 7-13 overall and 2-7 in the University Athletic Association (UAA) while Brandeis moves to 12-8 and 6-3.

Tartan senior John Duhring (Round Hill, Va./Saint Maria Goretti) twice tied the score in overtime and sophomore Sean Brophy (Blue Bell, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) gave the home team a three-point lead after two free throws with 57 seconds to play. The Judges answered with a layup and two missed free throws by the Tartans gave the visitors a chance with eight seconds to go. Hughes' drive to the right was tightly guarded by sophomore Asad Meghani (Carrollton, Texas/Greenhill School) but somehow the Judges leader got his off-balance shot to fall for the one-point win.

A jumper by freshman Kevin Stursberg (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Episcopal) at the 15:32 mark of the first half pulled the Tartans within one point, 11-10, before the Judges were able to rattle off seven straight to start an 11-2 run to take a 22-12 advantage with half the period to play.

Sophomore Christian Manoli (San Rafael, Calif./Terra Linda) later made back-to-back layups to cut the Cardinal and Gray deficit to seven before Hughes sandwiched a Tartan basket with a layup and a three-pointer and Derek Retos hit his second three-pointer of the game to give the Judges their largest lead of the game at 13. Manoli was then fouled shooting a three-pointer that sailed through the net and converted the free throw to pull the Tartans within nine at the break, 36-27.

The Tartans took advantage of a cold start to the second half by the Judges, using a 15-5 run to take their first lead of the game at 42-41 with 12:47 to play. Meghani scored seven of the Tartans 15 points including the go-ahead basket with a three-pointer off an assist by Stursberg. During the run, the Tartans shot 5-of-7 from the floor while the Judges missed nine straight and were whistled for three offensive fouls after starting the period with a layup.

The lead changed hands five times over the next five minutes before the Tartans scored six straight behind four points by Duhring and two by Manoli to lead 58-52 with just over six minutes to play. Duhring and Manoli continued to be the Tartans' scoring threats as they put in the next seven for the Tartans who clinged to the lead until Vytas Kriskus converted three for the Judges on a drive and free throw. Kriskus' points gave Brandeis a 66-65 lead with 46 seconds to play.

Senior Joe Kromka (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) tied the game with a free throw on the Tartans next possession and blocked Brandeis's attempt to win the game with three ticks to go, eventually sending the game into overtime when Manoli's shot at the buzzer fell short.

Duhring led all scorers with 21 points while Manoli dropped in 17 and Meghani 13. Kromka pulled down eight rebounds and blocked a career-tying four shots as Brophy tallied a season-tying seven rounds and season-high three steals.

The Judges were led by Kriskus' 16 points and eight rebounds. Jay Freeman scored 12 off the bench while Hughes and Retos both finished with 11 points.

The Tartans will next be in action when they travel to Chicago, Ill., for an 8:00 p.m. tip against University of Chicago on Friday, February 10.