Tartans Season Starts With a 73-67 Win Over La Roche

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team opened its season with a 73-67 victory over the visiting Redhawks of La Roche College on Tuesday night in Wiegand Gymnasium.

Game Information
Carnegie Mellon 73, La Roche 67
Records: Carnegie Mellon (1-0), La Roche (0-1)
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. (Wiegand Gymnasium)

How it Happened

• Carnegie Mellon jumped out to a 13-5 lead at the midway point of the first half after holding La Roche to a 2-of-16 shooting performance.
• The Redhawks then made eight of their next 12 shots from the floor while the Tartans converted four of their next nine as the score became knotted at 23-23 with 2:32 left in the half.
• The lead changed hands three time in the last two minutes of the frame with the last coming with 15 ticks on the clock when Joe Pipilo drained a triple to give the visitor's a 28-27 lead into the break.
• A dunk by Tartans junior R.J. Holmes with 10:38 to play in the contest made the score 51-40 and ended a stretch of nine straight by Carnegie Mellon.
• Over a five-minute span, La Roche went on a 14-2 run and retook the lead 54-53 with 5:30 to play.
• Less than 30 seconds after La Roche regained the lead, freshman Justin Allen made two free throws that sparked a run of six straight for the Tartans and the home team never looked back.

Tartan Stats

• The Tartans shoot 40.3% from the floor for the game.
• Holmes finished with a team-high 22 points and hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds.
• Senior Kevin Sax scored 16 points, grabbed nine rebounds and recorded three blocked shots.
• Off the bench, junior Jack Stone scored 11 points and Allen had nine points and six boards.

Redhawks Stats

• La Roche shot 35.6% from the floor.
• Devon Darrell scored a game-high 25 points and also handed out a game-best five assists.
• Two others scored in double figures with Desmond Ross coming off the bench for 17 and Jordan Grayson finished with 12.

Game Notes

• It marked the 11th double-double for Holmes.
• Carnegie Mellon has made at least one three-point basket in 515 straight contests.

Up Next

• Carnegie Mellon will host Washington & Jefferson College on Saturday, November 12 with a tip at 3:00 p.m.