Tartans Take Undefeated Juniata to Overtime

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team hosted Juniata College Tuesday, November 27 and took the undefeated Eagles into overtime before dropping a 76-70 decision.  Carnegie Mellon is now 1-5 while Juniata improves to 5-0.

After falling behind 4-0 early, junior Rob Mohen (Stamford, Conn./Regis (NY)) scored two straight buckets and senior Andre Moore (Bowie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) connected on a three-pointer to put the Tartans ahead 7-4 three minutes into the game.

With the score tied at 15-15 halfway through the first half, the Eagles used a 14-1 run taking a 29-16 into the locker room.  Juniata shot 50% from the floor in the first half to the Tartans 19%.

Juniata came out in the second half and extended its lead to 41-24, but the Tartans used a 13-4 run cutting the deficit to 45-37 with 11 minutes to play in the contest.  Two minutes later, Carnegie Mellon put together another run, this time a 17-4 spurt over a six minute span, as the Tartans took their first lead since early in the first half at 54-53.

The visitor's responded scoring the next five points and held a 58-54 lead with 1:37 to play in regulation.  The Tartans didn't go away, as Mohen connected on a pair of foul shots with 55 seconds left pulling the Cardinal and Gray to within two.  After the teams exchanged a pair of possessions, Moore took an inbound pass and drove the length of the court, with 0.4 seconds left the senior was fouled while hitting a jumper. His missed attempt at the charity stripe sent the game to overtime with the score 58-58.

In the overtime frame, Juniata scored the first 10 points and never looked back.  The Tartans cut the lead in half when sophomore Jasen Blakney (Raleigh, N.C./Enloe) connected from long range, but that was as close as the Tartans came.

Carnegie Mellon ended the game shooting 38% from the floor, as the Eagles shot 49%.  Mohen led four Tartans in double figures with 13 points. Moore and sophomore Matt Loebbaka (Mt. Prospect, Ill./Prospect) each had 12 points while junior Sean Brophy (Blue Bell, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) ended the game with 10.  Moore also recorded a career-high five steals in the setback.

Juniata was led by Kevin Stapleton with 24 points and Jeremy Hays with 21 points.  Hays hauled in a game-high nine rebounds for the Eagles.

The Tartans will be back on the hardwood Saturday, December 1, as they entertain the 20th-ranked Bulldogs of Adrian College at 3:00 p.m.