Nine Tartans Score in Opening-Round Setback at Carnegie Mellon / DoubleTree Tournament

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team dropped a 70-66 decision to the Bearcats of St. Vincent College on the first day of the Carnegie Mellon/DoubleTree Tournament held in Skibo Gymnasium.  The Tartans are now 1-3 on the season while the Bearcats improve to 3-1.

The Tartans got off to a fast start, opening the contest on a 9-0 run, as the Bearcats missed their first six shots over the first five minutes of action.  Saint Vincent answered the Tartans with a 16-2 run over the next seven-in-a-half minutes to take its first lead of the half. The Bearcats pushed their advantage to 21-16 with five minutes to play in the half.

Carnegie Mellon scored on two straight possessions to knot the score at 21-21.  The first score was a trey by sophomore Seth Cordts (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) before junior Rob Mohen (Stamford, Conn./Regis (NY)) scored on a layup with 3:19 remaining on the clock.  The teams played even basketball the rest of the half, but in the last second of the frame, senior Andre Moore (Bowie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) stole an inbounds pass with 0.8 seconds left in the half and immediately turned and sent a 35-footer into the basket for a three-point bucket to give the Tartans a 29-26 lead at the break.

Moore started the second half the way he ended the first, by draining a three to give Carnegie Mellon a 32-26 lead. After junior Sean Brophy (Blue Bell, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) connected on a trey of his own, the Tartans led 35-26 less than two minutes into the second half. With 11:33 to play, Carnegie Mellon grabbed its largest lead (48-38) of the game on a layup from junior Rashaun Riley (Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek).

Over the next four minutes, the Bearcats used a 12-1 run to claim their first lead of the half, 50-49.  Carnegie Mellon responded to the visitors' run, rattling off nine straight points to claim a 58-50 advantage with 5:18 to play.  The Tartans held a six-point lead, 60-54, following a pair of foul shots by Brophy, but the Bearcats went on another spurt to knot the score at 64-64 with 42 ticks left on the clock after a layup from Chris Klimchock.

The Tartans took the ball and drove down the court, but a blocked shot by Dillon Stith turned into a fast-break layup from Isaac Turner, as the Bearcats took a 66-64 lead, which they never relinquished. A missed shot by Carnegie Mellon led to a Bearcat rebound by Sean Kett, who was fouled and hit both shots from the charity stripe to make it a four-point game, 68-64.

Tartan freshman Jason Sebak (New Kensington, Pa./Kiski Prep) drew a foul on the ensuing possession and made both shots to cut the gap back to two, but Klimchock sealed the game for the visitors with a pair of free throws with 5.7 seconds left.

Carnegie Mellon shot 40.4% from the floor to the Bearcats 46.7%, but the Tartans ended the game connecting on 8-of-16 from long range while St. Vincent was 2-of-8. Riley and Mohen led the Tartans with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Moore and Brophy each finished with eight points while Cordts cashed in with a career-high seven in the setback.  

St. Vincent was paced by senior guard Chris Klimchock's game-high 29 points, as he was perfect from the foul line, making all 12. Kett was the only other Bearcat in double figures, as he scored 10.

No. 19 St. Mary's (Md.) defeated Capital, 49-47 in the other first round game. The Tartans will now face Capital at 1:00 p.m. Sunday in the consolation game. The Bearcats will face St. Mary's (Md.) in the championship game at 3:00 p.m.