Tartans Drop 84-74 Overtime Contest to Hiram

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team hosted the Terriers of Hiram College Sunday afternoon. The Tartans never trailed throughout regulation, but then were outscored 13-3 in overtime to dropped an 84-74 decision.

Carnegie Mellon started the first twenty minutes of play converting 12-of-21 from the floor for 57.1% before ending the game shooting 43.3% while Hiram shot 37.8%. The Tartans were held without a field goal in the extra frame, missing all six of their attempts.

Senior Ethan Miller (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion) led the Tartans with 13 points. Sophomore Kevin Sax (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge) and freshman R.J. Holmes (Buffalo Grove, Ill. / Adlai Stevenson) each added a career-high 11 points in the setback. Sax also finished with eight rebounds and five blocks which are both career-highs, while Holmes tied his career-best with eight boards. Senior Joey Krempa (Linden, N.J./Linden) handed out a career-high seven assists.

Carnegie Mellon scored the first ten points of the game and continued its hot start converting the first six field goals and led 16-10 seven minutes into play. The Tartans then maintained their lead and went into the locker room with a 35-25 advantage.

Hiram used an 8-0 run early in the second half and pulled the score to within a point at 44-43 with 14:24 to play, but the Tartans answered with a 13-3 run over the next four minutes to take their largest lead of the game, 57-46. The Terriers slowly chipped away at the home teams lead and made the score 65-64 with 3:35 to play. Carnegie Mellon then pushed the lead back to five (71-66) with 47 ticks left on the clock. Hiram then converted two free throws and forced a turnover that led to a triple at the top of the arc by Kevin Beans Jr. which left the score 71-71 with 20 seconds left in regulation. The Tartans had a chance to win the game, but senior Daniel Weiss' (Marlboro, N.J.) jumper with under a second to play spun out of the cylinder.

The Tartans will be back on the court Wednesday, March 31 when the entertain Penn State-Altoona at 3:30 p.m.