Tartans Fall in UAA Opener, 94-81, at Case Western Reserve

(CLEVELAND, Ohio) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team traveled to Case Western Reserve University on Saturday, January 9 to begin University Athletic Association (UAA) play. The Tartans fell 94-81 to the Spartans and are now 7-5 overall while the Spartans are 8-4.

Case Western Reserve led 40-29 at halftime following an 11-2 run to close the final 3:19. Prior to the run the score was 28-27 in favor of the Spartans after a layup by Tartan junior Chris Shkil (Mentor, Ohio/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin).

The Tartans opened with two straight layups by Shkil and senior Blake Chasen (Chevy Chase, Md./Phillips Exeter (N.H.)) before the score was tied on two occasions, the final time coming on a layup by Chasen to make the score 10-10 with 15:12 to play.

Case Western Reserve would hold the lead over the next five minutes until sophomore Ryan Maha (West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin) drilled a three-pointer to close an 8-0 run by the Tartans, giving the Cardinal and Gray an 18-17 lead.

The Spartans regained the lead on the next possession and held it until Shkil tied the game at 25-25 on a layup with 5:11 to play in the half.

Carnegie Mellon cut the deficit to single digits three minutes into the second period on another bucket inside the paint when Chasen scored on a put-back, but the Spartans pushed the lead to 14, 55-41, following a trey by Javier Alvarez.

Case Western Reserve maintained a double-digit lead until 4:15 to play when the Tartans pulled within nine points on a free throw by Shkil. That was a close as the Tartans would come though, as the Spartans were able to push it back to double digits and went on for the 94-81 win.

Shkil finished with 19 points for the Tartans and nine rebounds to go with five blocks. Junior Jack Serbin (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) was held scoreless in the first half and finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Patrick Ehland (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) scored 14 points off the bench for the Tartans who shot 45.6% for the game but turned the ball over 18 times resulting in 26 points for the Spartans.

Carnegie Mellon returns home to face the University of Chicago on Friday, January 9 at 8:00 p.m. in Skibo Gymnasium.