Tartans End Season in ECAC Quarterfinals

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team hosted Allegheny College on Wednesday, March 1 in the opening round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Men's Basketball Championship. The Gators started with the hot hand and led wire-to-wire for an 88-68 win to move to 20-9 overall while the Tartans close the year at 15-11.

How it Happened

• Allegheny was hot early, making five of their first seven shots, with four of them being three-pointers to lead 14-4 in the first four minutes.
• The Gators stretched the lead to 22-4 with two more long-range shots that sandwiched a layup with only 5:34 ticked off the clock.
• Methodically the Tartans climbed back in the game and pulled within four points with 6:24 to go in the half following a layup by junior R.J. Holmes off an assist by senior Sean Oberman following a steal by senior Josh Berry.
• During the Tartans' run to make it 32-28, freshman Justin Allen converted four straight layups.
• The Gators went on another run to close the half, connecting on another three shots from behind the arc, including back-to-back attempts to quickly lead by 10 again before the half ended with Allegheny up 45-33.
• Allen made the first bucket of the second half but the Gators would continue to make shots and would lead by 18 points, 64-46, with more than half the period still to play.
• Oberman and Holmes combined for the next 15 points by the Tartans with Oberman connecting on three triples to pull the home team to within seven points with 9:35 to go.
• The Gators didn't succumb to the Tartans' run though and were once again up by 19 points after a 12-0 blitz that spanned three minutes.
• Allegheny would answer every point the Tartans scored over the final six minutes to finish with the 88-68 victory.

Tartan Stats

• The team finished with a 40.9% shooting effort after hitting 39.5% in the first half.
• Allen led the team with 20 points and seven rebounds.
• Holmes finished with 17 points.
• Oberman closed his career with 13 points.
• Senior Josh Berry finished with five assists.

Gator Stats

• The Gators hit 16 three-pointers and shot 50.0% from long range, recording their 17th game with double-digit made three-pointers.
• Three different players hit three or more for long range with Preston Turk hitting 4-of-8.
• Luke Barker led the offense with 21 points, making three three-pointers.
• Caden Hinckley and Andre Wilder each recorded double-doubles.
• Hinckley finished with 18 rebounds and 16 points with six assists while Wilder had 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Game Notes

• The ECAC appearance is the first postseason showing since 2017 when the Tartans reached the quarterfinals of the ECAC tournament.
• The ECAC appearance was the fifth for the Tartans who now have a record of 4-4 in the tournament.
• The Tartans won the ECAC South Tournament in 2008.
• The Tartans played with two seniors on the bench with injuries.