Tartans Drop UAA Opener 74-69 at #9 Case Western Reserve

(CLEVELAND, Ohio) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team opened University Athletic Association (UAA) play on Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio and dropped a 74-69 contest to the ninth-ranked Spartans of Case Western Reserve University.

Game Information
Carnegie Mellon 69, #9 Case Western Reserve 74
Records: Carnegie Mellon (8-4, 0-1 UAA), #9 Case Western Reserve (11-0, 1-0 UAA)
Location: Cleveland, Ohio (Horsburgh Gymnasium)

How it Happened

• Over the first six minutes of the game, Case Western Reserve took a 16-5 lead, but the Tartans responded with 10 unanswered to pull within a point at 16-15 with 11 minutes to play in the half.
• The Spartans answered with eight straight of their own and pushed the lead to 24-15 at the 8:32 mark before taking a 32-23 lead into the locker room.
• At the 14:19 mark of the second half, the Spartans took their largest lead of the contest at 47-32 before the Tartans used a 17-3 run over a four-minute stretch to make the score 50-49 CWRU midway through the half.
• CWRU pushed its lead to 59-51, but the Cardinal and Gray didn't go away. The Tartans scored the next seven points and pulled back to within a point at 59-58 with four minutes to play.
• The home team responded scoring 10 of the next 12 points before holding on for the 74-69 victory.

Tartan Stats

• After shooting 28.6% from the floor in the first half, Carnegie Mellon shot the rock 53.1% (17-32) in the second half to end the contest shooting 41.7%.
• Three players scored in double figures for the Tartans with senior Nick Nakasian and junior Jack Stone each tallying 18.
• Senior Sean Oberman ended the game with 10 points off the bench.
• Nakasian hauled down a team-high eight rebounds with Stone grabbing seven.
• Senior Josh Berry handed out a game-high six assists while senior Kevin Sax recorded a season-high five assists and tied a career-best with four steals.

Spartan Stats

• Three players scored in double figures for the Spartans with Ian Elam leading with a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds.
• Cole Frilling ended with 16 points while Luke Thorburn chipped in with 10.

Game Notes

• The Tartans were held without a block shot for the first time since February 14, 2020, at Chicago.

Thoughts From Head Coach Tony Wingen

• "We've shown how good we can be in stretches; we need to put it together for 40 minutes. We need to do a better job of following the gameplan to make plays on both ends of the court."

Up Next

• The Tartans will travel to Atlanta, Georgia, for a 7:30 p.m. contest on Friday, January 13 against #22 Emory University before playing at #5 University of Rochester on Sunday, January 15 at 12:00 p.m.