From Carnegie Mellon University Athletics
The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team traveled to La Roche College Monday, January 4 and opened the New Year with an 81-54 win over the Redhawks. In the win, the Tartans set the single-game blocks record with 15, passing the old mark of 13 set against Ohio Northern in 2007. Carnegie Mellon moves to 7-3 while the Redhawks are now 3-8.
Junior Jack Serbin (New Albany, Ohio) scored the first seven points for Carnegie Mellon, as the visitors jumped out to an early 7-2 lead just under two minutes into play. Three minutes later, sophomore Ryan Maha (West Mifflin, Pa.) and Serbin connected on back-to-back three-point baskets to give the Tartans a 16-7 edge.
La Roche cut the deficit to three points on two occasions the rest of the first half, the last coming at the 6:14 mark to make the score 23-20. The Tartans then used a 14-7 run to close out the frame and take a 37-27 lead into the locker room. Serbin drained a three-pointer with 38 seconds left to give Carnegie Mellon its largest lead of the half before Arners Bajgora converted a layup in the closing seconds making the Cardinal and Gray's advantage 10 at the break.
Carnegie Mellon recorded 11 first-half blocks with junior Chris Shkil (Mentor, Ohio/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) leading the charge with four while Serbin tabbed three and freshman Patrick Ehland (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) had two. Serbin led all scorers after twenty minutes of play with 17 points, converting 7-of-12 from the floor.
The Tartans grabbed a 48-32 lead after seven straight points by Maha at the 16:24 mark in the second half. The Redhawks then cut the lead to 52-41 before the Tartans used a 17-5 run, which spanned 7:41, to take a 69-46 lead with five minutes to play. During the run, Carnegie Mellon held La Roche without a field goal over the stretch of 6:25.
Carnegie Mellon finished shooting 43.8% from the floor to La Roche's 33.8%. The Tartans controlled the inside game hauling down 49 rebounds to the Redhawks' 28. Serbin led all scorers with 23 points while Maha ended with 12 and Ehland chipped in 10.
Shkil tallied a career-best six blocks to lead the Tartans and recorded nine points and nine rebounds in the win. Senior Jason Sebak (New Kensington, Pa./Kiski Prep) continued his stellar play at the point, as he dished out nine assists and tied a career-best with three steals. Junior James Ormond (Piedmont, Calif.) tied a career-high with six points and grabbed a career-best nine rebounds.