Shooting Woes Hurt Tartans at La Roche

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team traveled to cross-town opponent La Roche College on Tuesday for a non-conference evening match. The Redhawks, now 4-1,  defended their home court, winning 78-60, pushing the Tartans record to 2-6 for the season.

Junior guard Zach Howarth (Freehold, N.J. / St. John Vianney) led the Tartans with 18 points and nine rebounds with sophomore forward Ethan Miller (King of Prussia, Pa. / Upper Merion) in double figures for the second straight game with 15 points. Howarth also led the team in assists with four.

The Tartans were held to their lowest field-goal percentage of the season when they shot 21-of-55 (.382) with five made three-pointers. La Roche shot 44.1% with nine three-pointers.

Carnegie Mellon held a slim lead, 6-5, four minutes into the game but found themselves down 18-10 five minutes later. A 13-7 run for the Tartans pulled them within two points, 25-23, after a three-point play by Howarth with 6:58 to go in the first half. La Roche then scored seven unanswered before leading 36-31 at the half.

La Roche held the Tartans to eight points through the first 10 minutes of the second half as it extended its advantage to 52-39 after a layup by Miller. The Tartans later pulled to within 10 points but that was a close as they'd get for the remainder of the game.

The Tartans will next travel to Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, for a 2:00 p.m. contest against the Statesmen (2-4) on Saturday, December 8.