Box Score
John Carroll rallied from an eight-point deficit in the final four minutes to tie the game, but Carnegie-Mellon would pull out an 81-79 win on a late basket that the Blue Streaks could not answer in the opening round of the 18th Annual Radisson/Carnegie Mellon Tournament Saturday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Carnegie-Mellon led 77-69 with 3:18 to play following a pair of free throws by senior Ryan Einwag. But John Carroll would score 10 of the next 12 points to tie the game at 79-79. Freshman Michael Hartnett, junior Rudy Kirbus and sophomore Maurice Haynes all had a hand in the late rally, but it would be a trio of rookies who combined on the game-tying play.
Danny Whelan created a turnover with 36 seconds left in regulation, and then passed to Hartnett, who found an open Joe Meyer. The freshman, who had yet to score in the game, drained a three-pointer to tie the contest.
But the veteran Tartans -- who played as many as six seniors in the game -- would not be rattled by the JCU comeback. With 7.7 seconds left, senior John O'Rourke found fellow senior Einwag on the baseline, and he drained what would be the game winning jumper.
The Blue Streaks had one last chance to tie the game, but Whelan could not connect on his attempt with one tick left on the clock.
From the start, the game was a back-and-forth affair featuring 14 lead changes and six ties. John Carroll held a four-point lead on three occasions, the last of which was following a Kirbus three-point play that gave JCU a 39-35 advantage with 19:51 to play in the second half.
The Tartans, however, would use a 19-8 run over the next four-and-a-half minutes to take a 54-47 lead. They would hold that lead, which got as high as nine points, until Meyer's three-pointer tied the game in the final 30 seconds, setting up Einwag's game-winning play.
Carnegie Mellon (4-0) had three players in double figures led by Einwag's career-high 33 points. Junior Jack Anderson finished the game with 13 points and senior Jon Wolleben cashed in with 10. Einwag led all players with 12 rebounds.
The Tartans held a slight edge in the rebounding battle, 41-35.
John Carroll (1-2), which dropped its second two-point decision of the year, was paced by a career-high 26 points from Kirbus and 23 points by Haynes. Kirbus, who was 7-9 from the field and 11-13 from the free throw line, also had 10 rebounds to complete a double-double.
The Blue Streaks will face York in the consolation game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Live stats for this can be accessed by clicking here.
