Cordts Fuels Second Half Run and Moore Scores Career High in Season-Ending Win

(CLEVELAND, Ohio) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team closed the season with a dramatic 80-76 overtime win over rival Case Western Reserve University on Saturday, February 23 behind a career-high 26 points from senior Andre Moore (Bowie, Md./Archbishop Spalding). The Tartans finish the year with a 6-19 record and 3-11 mark in University Athletic Association play while the Spartans finish at 12-13 and 5-9.

It was a back-and-forth first period with six lead changes and eight ties and a show by the seniors as Moore scored 13 first half points while Case Western's Austin Fowler scored 19.

The Spartans led by as many as eight points but it wasn't until the last two minutes of the period and junior Asad Meghani (Carrollton, Texas/Greenhill School) cut the half-time deficit to six with a layup off an inbounds play under the hoop with five seconds left.

The Tartans largest lead was two points and sophomore Kevin Stursberg (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Episcopal) gave the Cardinal and Gray its first lead at the 12:04 mark with a layup off an assist by junior Rob Mohen (Stamford, Conn./Regis (NYC)). Stursberg's basket was the end of a 6-0 run by the Tartans.

An 8-0 run at the start of the second half, beginning with four points by sophomore Matt Loebbaka (Mt. Prospect, Ill./Prospect) and ending with a jumper by junior Rashaun Riley (Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek) gave the Tartans their first lead since the 5:31 mark of the first half at 49-47 with 13:56 to play.

The Spartans later had their own 8-0 run with two baskets apiece by Julien Person and Brian Klements, all in the paint, to push their lead back to eight points at 58-50 with just over half of the period left to play.

The Tartans then turned on the defense and the offense scoring 14 unanswered to take a 64-58 lead and later led 67-61 as sophomore Seth Cordts (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) drilled three from behind the arc and scored the last 10 Tartan points. During the run, Meghani hit a trey, marking the 31st straight game, dating back to last season, he's done so.

Fowler tied the game making one-of-two free throws with 6.8 seconds to go and a shot at the buzzer by the Tartans was short sending the game to overtime.

Moore opened the overtime period with a three-pointer and with a put-back layup with 2:16 to go gave the Tartans the lead for good, 72-71, as he went on for his career-high and gave the team the season-ending victory.

Meghani hit his second three-pointer of the game in dramatic fashion with seven seconds left on the shot clock. The ball swung around the halfcourt with Mohen feeding Meghani on the wing for what ended up being a wide open shot the sharp-shooter couldn't miss with 27 seconds to go, giving the Tartans a 77-73 lead. Three free throws by junior Sean Brophy (Blue Bell, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) and Meghani sealed the win as Mohen came up with a steal at the end.

Following Moore in points for the Tartans was Meghani with 18 and Cordts with 10. Loebbaka grabbed a career-high nine rebounds in the win while Moore finished with four steals, one shy of tying the single-season record of 60.

Fowler finished with 33 points and a career-high 19 rebounds while Dane McLoughlin also registered a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.