Tartans Come Up Short at Home Against La Roche

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team opened the season at home against La Roche College Friday night with the Redhawks earning the road win, 71-64.

Three Tartans turned in 11-point performances as senior Ryan Maha (West Mifflin, Pa. / West Mifflin), junior Seth Henry (Fulton, Md. / Reservoir), and freshman Colin McNeil (Ringoes, N.J. / Hunterdon Central Regional) led the team which shot 43.9% from the floor. The Tartans held the Redhawks to a 36.4% effort from the floor but were outrebounded 53-31.

Freshman Zach Watson (Dublin, Ohio / Jerome) made his first shot of the game, a three-pointer, to put the Tartans up 9-6 before a three-pointer by Darrell Barron tied the game with 12:49 to play in the first half. The Tartans then scored nine straight points over a two-minute span to take an 18-9 lead. Freshman Daniel Weiss (Marlboro, N.J. / Marlboro) hit a three-pointer at the end of the run.

The Redhawks went on an 11-1 run to take the lead at 20-19 with seven minutes to play in the half. The lead changed hands four times before the half ended with the Redhawks leading 28-26.

Henry hit the opening bucket of the second half to tie the game for the sixth time before McNeil converted a layup to give the Tartans back the lead, 30-28. The teams would trade buckets until the Redhawks took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Tyler Frederick with 10:04 to play in the game. That three-pointer broke up the 12th tie of the contest and sparked a 9-2 run that put the visitors ahead 53-46.

The Tartans pulled to within one point after a layup by sophomore Trent Suddeth (Winter Park, Fla. / Trinity Prep) and a layup by McNeil with 2:33 to play but Trell Thomas scored on a jumper in the paint and the Redhawks hit 6-of-8 from the line to keep the lead and win by seven.

Thomas led all scorers with 28 points while he grabbed eight rebounds. Dion Etheridge picked up 10 boards for the Redhawks while Ryan Norkus hauled in nine.

Maha dished out five assists, tying his career high, for the Tartans who will next host Bethany College on Tuesday, November 21 at 6:00 p.m.