First Half Lead Doesn’t Hold as Tartans Drop Game to Eagles

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team hosted Emory University in an University Athletic Association (UAA) showdown on February 14 on the hardwood in Skibo Gymnasium.  Although four Tartans scored in double figures led by junior Seth Cordts' (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) career-high 23 points, the Tartans fell 100-86 to the Eagles. Carngie Mellon is now 10-11, 3-7 while Emory improves to 14-7, 6-4.

Carnegie Mellon turned a 10 point deficit around in the first half after connecting on four straight three-pointers.  The Tartans trailed 30-20 with 7:25 to play in the half, as freshman Matt Hillman (Gaithersburg, Md./Sidwell Friends) drained the first triple followed by senior Asad Meghani (Dallas, Texas/The Greenhill School) and then Cordts to pull within a point at 30-29.  Emory's Alex Foster pushed the score to 32-29 on a layup before Cordts hit another trey to knot the score at 32-32 with four minutes to play in the half.

Two minutes later, Meghani gave the Tartans their first lead of the game, 40-38, on his fourth three-pointer of the half.  Emory managed to retake the lead in the closing minute of the half but Hillman hit a jumper with 36 second left to give Carnegie Mellon a 44-43 advantage at the break.

The Tartans shot 51.7% from the floor in the first stanza and 69.2% from behind the arc after making nine long balls.  Emory shot 46.3% while making five triples.

With the Tartans leading 53-52 six minutes into the second half, Emory rattled off seven straight points to take a 59-53 lead, one they never relinquished.  The Eagles led by as many as 16 points with four minutes to play, but the Tartans didn't go down without a fight. The home team scored nine straight points to cut the lead to 87-80, but Emory score the next five points to push its lead back to double digits.

Carnegie Mellon ended the contest shooting 41.2% from the floor while Emory improved in the second half to finish shooting 50.7%.  It marked the third straight game Cordts recorded a career-high in points, as he was a perfect 12-of-12 from the foul line. Senior Christian Manoli (San Rafael, Calif./Terra Linda) finished with 21 points and  Meghani and senior Rob Mohen (Stamford, Conn./Regis (NY)) added 15 and 11, respectively.

Jake Davis led Emory with 33 points while McPherson Moore tallied 24.  Also, scoring in double figures for the Eagles was Foster with 14 and Michael Florin with 13.

The Tartans will be returning to action at home on Sunday, February 16 to play the University of Rochester at 12:00 p.m.