Men’s Basketball Falls to #22 Rochester

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team entertained 22nd-ranked University of Rochester on Friday night and dropped a 79-58 University Athletic Association (UAA) contest. The Tartans are now 10-13 and 5-7 in UAA play while the Yellowjackets move to 19-4 and 9-3, as Rochester remains in a tie for the top spot in the UAA.

Carnegie Mellon shot 34.0% from the floor for the game while Rochester shot 44.4%. Junior Zach Howarth (Freehold, N.J./St. John Vianney) led the Tartans with 15 points while senior Seth Henry (Fulton, Md./Reservoir) finished with 14. Henry recorded a game-best nine rebounds in the setback.

Rochester saw four players score in double figures with Jacob Wittig leading with 19 points. Ryan Clamage and Trent Noordsij each had 13 and Ryan Algier ended with 12.

The Yellowjackets used a 10-2 run over a stretch of three minutes in the first half to push their lead to 25-13 with7:24 on the clock. Five minutes later the visitors matched their largest lead of the first half at 14 points (35-21). The Tartans then rattled off five straight starting with a triple by Howarth followed by a layup from junior Trent Suddeth (Winter Park, Fla./Trinity Prep) to cut the deficit to 35-26. After each team exchanged buckets, Wittig drained one of his three long balls of the night to close the scoring and give the Yelllowjackets a 39-27 lead at the break.

Carnegie Mellon scored six straight points early in the second half and cut the Yellowjackets lead to 43-36 with 16:42 to play. With Rochester leading 50-41 following a three-point basket by junior Colin McNeil (Ringoes, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional), Rochester went on a 9-0 run and led 60-41 at the 11:17 mark. The Yellowjackets maintained control of the game the rest of the way, as the Tartans were able to cut the lead to 14 points on two occasions before falling 79-58.

Carnegie Mellon will concluded its home schedule on Sunday, February 17 with a 12:00 p.m. tip against Emory University.