Shkil Records First Career Double-Double in Tartans Heartbreaking Setback at Heidelberg

(TIFFIN, Ohio) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team traveled to Tiffin, Ohio, on Wednesday, December 9 to play Heidelberg University and dropped a heartbreaker, 73-71. Junior Chris Shkil (Mentor, Ohio/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) paced the Tartans with career-highs of 21 points and 13 rebounds to record his first career double-double.  Carnegie Mellon is now 4-2 while Heidelberg moves to 5-3.
    
After missing three straight baskets to start the game, Carnegie Mellon connected on six of its next eight shots to grab a 13-11 lead with 14:11 to play in the first half.  The Tartans shooting spree ended with a dunk by freshman Patrick Ehland (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon).  

Five Tartan turnovers over the next three minutes led to eight points for the Berg, as the home team grabbed a 19-15 advantage.  Carnegie Mellon responded with seven unanswered points over the next minute to retake the lead, 22-19, thanks to a long ball by sophomore Ryan Maha (West Mifflin, Pa.) and four points from Shkil.

The last nine minutes of the half saw the lead change hands six times with Heidelberg holding a 34-33 halftime edge following a layup by DeAvery Collins as time expired. The Tartans ended the frame shooting 46.4% (13-28) from the floor while the Berg shot 39.4% (13-33).   

The Tartans scored the first five points of the second half to regain the lead and led by as many as seven points on two occasions.  The last was with 14:25 to play in the game on a Shkil layup to make the score 49-42. The Berg then rattled off seven straight points to knot the score at 49-49 with just under 13 minutes to play in regulation.  

The lead changed five more times along with five ties over the next 13 minutes.  With seven seconds left in regulation Heidelberg's Isaac Everette made a layup to give the Berg a 73-71 lead.  Carnegie Mellon was able to get two shots off in the remaining seconds of play, but neither dropped in.

The lead changed a total of 18 times along with the score tied on 13 occasions.  The Tartans shot 50.9% from the floor to the Berg's 43.9%.  It's only the Tartans 10th setback since the 2002-03 season when the team has shot 50%.  

Besides Shkil, three other Tartans scored in double figures. Junior Jack Serbin (New Albany, Ohio) had 15, Maha ended with 12 and senior Blake Chasen (Chevy Chase, Md./Phillips Exeter (N.H.)) chipped in with a season-best 10.

Carnegie Mellon returns to the hardwood on Friday, December 11 when they open play in the Doc Greene Tournament hosted by Juniata College against Randolph College.  Tip is set for 5:00 p.m.