Meghani Pours in 20 Points in Tartans Season Opener at #13 Wooster

(WOOSTER, Ohio) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team traveled to Wooster, Ohio Friday, November 16 opening its 2012-13 campaign at the Al Van Wie / Rotary Classic.  Carnegie Mellon played the host, 13th-ranked Fighting Scots of Wooster, in the first round and dropped a 79-67 decision behind junior Asad Meghani's (Dallas, Texas/The Greenhill School) game-high 20 points.
    
Over the first four minutes of play Wooster jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never trailed the rest of the way.  The Fight Scots built a lead by as many as 11 points (15-4) with just under 13 minutes to play in the first half, but Carnegie Mellon rattled off six straight points cutting the lead to five at the 11 minute mark.

Meghani pulled the score to 23-19 with a jumper, but Wooster ended the half on a 6-2 run pushing its lead to 29-21 after the first twenty minutes of play.  The Tartans shot 27.6% from the floor in the first half to the Fight Scots 44.8%.

Junior Rashaun Riley (Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek) connected on a long ball two minutes into the second half, but the Fighting Scots inside game was too much for the Tartans, as they scored three straight layups pushing the lead to 39-26.  

Carnegie Mellon pulled within seven points on two different occasions, the first on a layup by junior Phil Einwag (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) with 11:42 to play and the next when senior Andre Moore (Bowie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) drained a trey.  Following Moore's three-point bucket at 3:30, Wooster used a 7-1 run to secure the victory.

In the second half, the Tartans shot 59.3% from the floor ending the game shooting 42.9% while Wooster shot 73.1% in the second half and ended shooting 58.2%. The Fighting Scots scored 50 of their points in the paint to the Tartans 18, as Wooster controlled the rebound count 38-23.

Besides Meghani's 20 points, the junior dished out three assists and recorded three steals.  Riley was the only other Tartan in double figures cashing in with 11 points.  Moore tied a career-high with four steals as the Tartans combined for a total of 13 steals to Wooster's 11.

The Fight Scots were led by Xavier Brown's 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting while Evan Pannell and Josh Claytor each had 14 points.  Jake Mays grabbed a game-high eight rebounds while scoring 12 points.

Carnegie Mellon will play Otterbein on Saturday in the consolation game of the Al Van Wie / Rotary Classic.  Tip is set for 6:00 p.m. on the hardwood of Timken Gymnasium.