Tartans Come up Short to Penn State Behrend, 81-75

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team hosted Penn State Behrend on Wednesday night and saw all five starters score in double figures in an 81-75 setback to the Lions. Carnegie Mellon is now 3-4 while Penn State Behrend improves to 6-1.

Carnegie Mellon shot 48.4% (31-of-64) from the floor, while the Lions finished the game shooting 56.9% (29-of-51). The Tartans controlled the glass hauling down 36 boards to the visitor's 24, as it marked the Tartans first loss this season when winning the rebound margin.

Junior Seth Henry (Fulton, Md./Reservoir) led the Cardinal and Gray with 13 points while junior Patrick Ehland (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) and sophomore Colin McNeil (Ringoes, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional) each had 12. Sophomore Zach Howarth (Freehold, N.J./St. John Vianney) and senior Ryan Maha (West Mifflin, Pa.) rounded out the starting five double-digit scoring night with 11 and 10, respectively. Howarth tied a career-high with five assists and McNeil ended the night with four assists and two steals.

Justin Gorney led Penn State Behrend with 19 points. The Lions also had double figure performances by Andy Niland, Mike Fischer and Kyle Reese. Niland poured in 17, Fischer tallied 13 and Reese scored 11 off the bench.

The Lions jumped out to a 27-18 lead with six minutes to play in the first half before the Tartans cut the lead to 27-23 two minutes later. Penn State Behrend answered and rattled off eight straight points to take its largest lead of the half at 35-23 with 2:09 to play. Carnegie Mellon then closed the half on a 9-3 run to cut the deficit in half and trailed 38-32 at the break.

The second half started with the Lions scoring the first five points to extend the lead back to double figures at 43-32. Penn State Behrend maintained control and took its largest lead of the game at the 12-minute mark following a trey by Niland which made the score 61-46.

The Tartans didn't go away and pulled as close as two points at 77-75 with 38 seconds left in the game, following a triple by sophomore Cooper Williams (Meriden, N.H./Kimball Union Academy) and a traditional three-point play by Howarth. The latter scoring play was setup following a steal by Williams on the ensuing inbound pass after his three-point basket. The Lions then converted 4-of-6 foul shots in the closing seconds to seal the win.

Carnegie Mellon continues play on Saturday, December 9 when the Statesmen of Hobart College travel to Pittsburgh for a 2:00 p.m. tip.