Tartans Lose Thriller in Overtime at #8 WashU, 65-63

(ST. LOUIS, Mo.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team traveled to No. 8 Washington University in St. Louis Monday and outscored the Bears in the second half to force the second overtime game between the teams this season. In overtime the lead changed four times before WashU came away with a 65-63 win in University Athletic Association (UAA) play. The Tartans are now 10-8 overall and 3-5 in UAA play while the Bears move to 16-3, 6-2.

This was the first loss for the Tartans this season in the four overtime games they have played. After shooting 32.0% from the floor in the first half, Carnegie Mellon shot 50.0% in the second and finished the game converting 26-of-61 for 42.6%. The Tartans help the Bears to 40.0% for the game.

Junior Sean Oberman (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central) led a trio of Tartans in double figures with 15 points. Junior Kevin Sax (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge) ended with 13 points while junior Josh Berry (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) chipped in with 11 points and dished out a career-high eight assists. Sophomore R.J. Holmes (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Adlai Stevenson) led the Tartans with a game-high nine rebounds and scored eight points.

The Bears were led by Hayden Doyle with a game-high 21 points. Charlie Jacob scored 13 and Justin Hardy ended with 11.

The Tartan converted 4-of-6 from the floor, including connecting on two triples, over the first four minutes of the game and took an early 10-5 lead. WashU then scored seven unanswered points and led 12-10 at the 13:10 mark. Over the next five minutes the score changed hands four different occasions before the Bears closed the last 7:42 of the half on an 18-7 run to go into the break with a 32-23 advantage. During the run, the Bears scored 11 straight before a triple by senior Charlie Tripp (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mariemont) closed the scoring over the first twenty minutes of action.

Midway through the second half, Carnegie Mellon used a 10-2 run to pull within one-point. Over a four-minute stretch, the Bears scored six straight and pushed the lead to 52-45. The Tartans answered with seven straight and tied the score at 52-52 with 2:24 to play in regulation. In the closing second of the second half, Oberman connected on a trey to tie the score once again at 55-55. Doyle gave WashU a two-point lead on a bucket with 21 ticks on the clock, but a driving layup by Berry with 2.1 seconds went through the net and tied the score at 57-57 to send the game to overtime.

In overtime, the lead switched four times with neither team leading by more than two points throughout. With 19 seconds left, Hardy made the second of two free throws that gave the home team a 65-63 lead. The Tartans had brought the ball up court and fallowing a timeout with 4.6 seconds, the inbound pass went to Sax downlow and the juniors shot rolled off the iron as the buzzer sounded.

The Tartans will return to play on Friday, February 11 with a 5:30 p.m. tip on the hardwood of Wiegand Gymnasium against the Judges of Brandeis University.