On senior day, the Tartans and Yellowjackets battled with no team gaining a significant advantage for the opening 15 minutes of the first half. The final five minutes saw the Tartans go on a 15-2 run to take a 43-26 halftime lead. The Tartans were running on all cylinders in the first half as they shot 50.0% and connected on 7-11 three-pointers. Senior A.J. Straub (St. Mary’s, Pa./Elk County Catholic) sunk a three-pointer at the 12:59 mark in the first half extending his school record to 28 straight games with a three-pointer dating back to last season.
In the second half the Tartans 17 point lead held despite Rochester’s Jon Onyiriuka’s low post presence. Onyiriuka poured in 18 of his game-high 31 points in the final period, but he received little scoring support from his teammates as no one else scored in double figures. The Tartans were able to increase their lead to a game-high 24 early in period number two when senior Bary Dunn (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Alderdice) made a jumper to put the Tartans up 59-35. Rochester, behind Onyiriuka, narrowed the deficit the rest of the way, but never seriously threatened the Tartans on their way to the ten point victory.
Senior Nate Maurer’s (Pittsburgh, Pa./Linsly School) 16 points led the way for the Tartans as four players scored in double figures en route to their first season sweep of Rochester since the 1995-96 season and second sweep ever since the formation of the UAA 19 years ago. Dunn added 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including an emphatic dunk at the 12:23 mark in the first half off a pass from sophomore guard Geoff Kozak (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon Area). Straub contributed 13 points, on three trays, giving him 199 three-pointers for his career, five shy of tying the school record. Senior Clayton Barlow-Wilcox (Brookline, Mass.) chipped in with 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds, putting him at 599 rebounds for his career. Senior Marques Johnson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) led the way with five assists to go with his eight points.
“The #1 goal was to win today and get the automatic bid,” said an ecstatic Carnegie Mellon head coach Tony Wingen. “We were hoping for Chicago to help us out because deep down we wanted the first conference championship to be outright. I thought we played really well offensively – there’s no substitute for good shooting, particularly three-point shooting.”
The Tartans will now wait and see when, where, and who they will play in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The earliest they could play is Thursday, March 2, with Friday, March 3 more likely. The information will be released on Monday, February 27.