Straub fueled an opening 14-3 run by the Tartans, hitting three consecutive treys on his way to eight made attempts on the night for a school record. Skidmore rallied to within three points at the 10:03 mark of the first half after a 12-1 run, but a trey by Straub and two lay-ups by senior forward Clayton Barlow-Wilcox put out their fire and built the Tartan lead back to 10.
A Carnegie Mellon halftime lead of 54-45 was thanks in part to their offensive rebounding. The Tartans totaled more offensive rebounds than defensive rebounds in the half and the game making 17 first half boards turn into 19 first half points. The Cardinal & Gray finished the game with 33 offensive boards to Skidmore’s nine and totaled 39 second chance points.
The Tartans continued to outplay Skidmore in the second half building their lead to as many as 29 points. Senior forward Nate Maurer had 14 of his team-high 26 points in the second half.
Straub finished with a career-high 24 points and moved his career three-point total to 153. Barlow-Wilcox had a well-rounded performance scoring 18 points, grabbing eight boards and dished out a team-high six assists. Senior forward Marques Johnson recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Johnson also had five assists on the night, while Maurer totaled seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
Altogether, the Tartans dished out 27 assists, collected 14 steals and out-rebounded Skidmore 60-37 for the game.
Three players scored in double figures for Skidmore, as J. Haviland-Markowitz recorded a double-double with 29 points and 10 boards. Greg Gallagher and Rich Toni followed Haviland-Markowitz with 22 and 14 points, respectively.
Carnegie Mellon continues their road trip through New York with a 3:00 p.m. tip at Union College on Saturday, December 10.
Newspaper Box Score Carnegie Mellon vs Skidmore College 12/09/05 7 pm at Saratoga Springs, NY At Saratoga Springs, NY CARNEGIE MELLON 110, SKIDMORE COLLEGE 83 CARNEGIE MELLON (8-0) Maurer, Nate 10-17 3-8 26; Straub, A.J. 8-18 0-0 24; Barlow-Wilcox, C. 8-14 2-3 18; Johnson, Marques 4-14 2-2 10; Dunn, Bary 4-7 0-0 8; Einwag, Ryan 2-3 3-4 7; Gonzalez, Greg 2-4 0-0 4; O'Rourke, Corey 1-3 0-0 3; Pearson, Rob 1-3 0-0 2; Matta, Brad 1-4 0-0 2; Wolleben, Jon 1-2 0-0 2; Kozak, Geoff 1-5 0-0 2; Bouldin-Johnson, T. 1-2 0-0 2; Oliver, John 0-1 0-1 0; Stirt, Ben 0-1 0-0 0; Taylor, Casey 0-0 0-0 0; Curtis, Elliott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 44-98 10-18 110. SKIDMORE COLLEGE (2-5) J.Haviland-Markowitz 10-16 7-9 29; Greg Gallagher 8-13 4-4 22; Rich Toni 5-10 0-0 14; Reed Juckett 4-8 1-3 9; Brian Perrier 2-4 0-0 4; Jake Shechtman 1-8 0-0 3; Sam Cohen-DeVries 1-3 0-0 2; Ryan Fischer-Werner 0-1 0-0 0; Zach Lockhart 0-0 0-0 0; Ian Connole 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 31-63 12-17 83. Carnegie Mellon............... 54 56 - 110 Skidmore College.............. 45 38 - 83 3-point goals-Carnegie Mellon 12-35 (Straub, A.J. 8-17; Maurer, Nate 3-8; O'Rourke, Corey 1-2; Dunn, Bary 0-1; Gonzalez, Greg 0-1; Matta, Brad 0-2; Kozak, Geoff 0-2; Oliver, John 0-1; Johnson, Marques 0-1), Skidmore College 9-28 (Rich Toni 4-9; Greg Gallagher 2-6; J.Haviland-Markowitz 2-5; Jake Shechtman 1-4; Sam Cohen-DeVries 0-1; Brian Perrier 0-1; Reed Juckett 0-2). Fouled out--Carnegie Mellon-None, Skidmore College-None. Rebounds-Carnegie Mellon 60 (Johnson, Marques 13), Skidmore College 37 (J.Haviland-Markowitz 11). Assists-Carnegie Mellon 27 (Barlow-Wilcox, C. 6), Skidmore College 18 (Reed Juckett 5). Total fouls-Carnegie Mellon 16, Skidmore College 15. A-210