Men’s Basketball Upsets No. 22 New York in the Big Apple, 85-80

(NEW YORK, N.Y.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team traveled to New York to play the 22nd-ranked Violets of New York University on Friday, January 29.  In the University Athletic Association (UAA) contest, the Tartans ended their six game skid with an 85-80 victory.  The win moves Carnegie Mellon's record to 8-9, 1-5 while NYU moves to 13-3, 3-3.

NYU started the game converting its first five shots and led 16-4 five minutes into play.  The Violets pushed the lead to 21-7, the largest of the half, with 14 minutes to play. Carnegie Mellon cut the lead to 28-20 midway through the half on a long ball by sophomore Ryan Maha (West Mifflin, Pa.) and continued to chip into the Violets lead.

The Tartans trailed 35-24 with 4:25 to play before ending the half on a 15-2 run and took their first lead of the game when freshman Patrick Ehland (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) scored on a fastbreak layup in the closing seconds on a pass from Maha.  Ehland's bucket made the score 39-37 at the break.  During the run, senior Kemal Dincer (Istanbul, Turkey/Texas Christian University) connected on back-to-back three-point baskets while sophomore Thomas Cook (Gwynn Oak, Md./Carver Arts & Tech.) scored five straight points which knotted the score at 37-37.

Similar to the way the game started, NYU began the second half on a 14-3 run and led 51-42 five minutes in.  Cook pulled the Tartans back scoring five straight, but NYU scored 10 of the next 13 points and led 61-50 with 12:01 left in regulation.

Once again the Tartans responded. This time the visitors scored nine straight points to make the score 61-59 at 9:22 which ignited a 16-2 run for the Tartans that spanned over 5:27 and gave them a 66-63 lead with 6:34 to play.

Carnegie Mellon grabbed a 79-73 lead with 1:31 to play on a reverse layup by Cook.  NYU made the score 81-78 with 24.3 on the clock on a contested trey by Max Ralby, but four made free throws by senior Jason Sebak (New Kensington, Pa./Kiski Prep) in the closing seconds sealed the win.

Cook finished with a career-high 26 points while junior Chris Shkil (Mentor, Ohio/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) poured in 19.  Maha finished with 13 while junior Jack Serbin (New Albany, Ohio) tabbed 11.  Shkil led the Tartans on the glass with 11 rebounds to record his third double-double.

Carnegie Mellon committed a season-low six turnovers while NYU had 13.

Carnegie Mellon will conclude its four-game road trip on Sunday, January 31 with a noon tip at Brandeis University.