Men’s Basketball Opens Season with 67-66 Win Over Geneva

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - Senior Jack Serbin's (New Albany, Ohio) two free throws with 8.9 seconds left lifted the Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team to a 67-66 home victory to opened its 2016-17 season on Tuesday, November 15.

Sophomore Patrick Ehland (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) had a put-back layup five minutes into play to give the Tartans and early 12-3 lead. During the stretch, Carnegie Mellon held Geneva to 1-of-10 from the floor.

Over the next four minutes, the Golden Tornadoes converted six straight buckets and took their first lead of the contest, 20-18. Carnegie Mellon then used a 10-4 run to retake the lead and then went into the locker room with a 34-28 advantage. During the Tartans 10-4 spurt, senior Chris Shkil (Mentor, Ohio/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) accounted for six points with the other four coming off the hands of freshman point guard Colin McNeil (Ringoes, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional).

The Tartans led by as many as 11 points on two different occasions in the second half. The second coming on a pair of free throws by junior Ryan Maha (West Mifflin, Pa.). Five minutes into the second frame which put the home team on top 48-37. From there, Geneva scored seven straight to pull within four and later in the half rattled off six straight to take its first lead of the half, 60-59.

A layup by Maha with 4:33 to play gave the lead back to the Cardinal and Gray, On Geneva's next possession, Tyler Crenshaw grabbed the lead right back for the Golden Tornadoes with a layup of his own.

Geneva held the lead and led by as many as five, 66-61, with 2:38 to play. Serbin then scored the last six points of the game including the pair of free throws with 8.9 seconds showing on the clock to help the Tartans escape with the season opening victory.
 
Serbin led the Tartans with 18 points, including converting 10-of-10 from the charity stripe. The senior grabbed 12 rebounds to record his 32nd career double-double.  Shkil recorded his fourth career double-double with 13 points and a career-best 14 rebounds. The senior also recorded five blocks in the win.

Geneva was led by Chase Vaudrin with a game-high 23 points. Danny Torok finished the game with 15 points.

Carnegie Mellon returns to the court on Thursday, November 17. The Tartans will welcome La Roche College to Skibo Gymnasium for a 7:30 p.m. tip.