Nakasian Matches Season-High in Tartans 71-62 Win Over Chicago

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team opened its home University Athletic Association (UAA) schedule on Friday with a 71-62 win over the Maroons of the University of Chicago. Carnegie Mellon is now 8-5 overall and evens its mark at 1-1 in UAA play while Chicago moves to 5-8 and 0-2.

Freshman Nick Nakasian (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) led a trio of Tartans in double figures by tying a season-best 17 points coming off the bench. The freshman converted 5-of-9 from the floor and knocked down all five of his shots from the foul line. Seniors Colin McNeil (Ringoes, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional) and Trent Suddeth (Winter Park, Fla./Trinity Prep) ended the game with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Suddeth recorded his third straight double-double and fifth this season, as he grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds in the win.

Carnegie Mellon shot 46.9% from the field and converted 21-of-26 from the foul line. The 21 foul shots made was a season-high. Chicago finished the game shooting 33.8% from the floor. Jordan Baum led the Maroons with 15 points. Brandon Beckman scored 13 points, Dominic Laravie tabbed 12 and Bryce Hopkins added 10. Cole Schmitz led the Maroons with 11 rebound who outrebounded the Tartans 41-37.

The Tartans started the game making 4-of-5 from the floor and led 8-2 at the 16:24 mark. Carnegie Mellon took its largest lead of the first half with 9:15 to play when junior Daniel Weiss (Marlboro, N.J.) drained a triple to make the score 17-10. Chicago then used an 11-4 run which knotted the score at 21-21, but Nakasian scored the next five points and gave the Tartans a 26-21 lead with 3:29 to play in the first half. The Maroons closed the half scoring seven of the final nine points to go into the locker room knotted at 28-28.

Chicago started the second half on a 14-5 run over the first five minutes and led 42-33, as Baum went 3-of-3 from behind the arc during the stretch. The visitor's would push the lead to 45-35 with 14:11 on the clock before the Cardinal and Gray scored 10 straight to tie the game at 45-45 two minutes later. With the Tartans trailing 52-51 midway through the second half, the home team used a 14-2 run over a span of seven-and-a-half minutes and never looked back.

The Tartans will continue UAA play on Sunday, January 19 when the 13th-ranked Bears of Washington University in St. Louis travel to Pittsburgh, Tip is set for 12:00 p.m.