Senior Shane Rife of the Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team propelled the Tartans to a72-70 overtime upset victory over the visiting Eagles of Emory University Sunday, February 20.  Rife posted career-highs on senior day to help improve the Cardinal and Gray's record to 7-16, 4-9 while Emory is now 19-5, 10-3.

After starting the game 3-of-17 from the floor, Carnegie Mellon found itself trailing 19-8 with 8:28 to play in the first half.  Rife then took matters into his own hands, as he scored eight straight points for the Tartans which started a 17-2 run to give the home team their first lead of the game, 25-21, at the 4:48 mark.  

Emory answered with five unanswered to retake the lead, but the lead changed hands two more time before the end of the half with the Eagles holding onto a 31-29 advantage at the break.

After the Tartans sluggish start from the floor they went 7-of-10 the rest of the half to end the first 20 minutes of action shooting 37% (10-27) from the floor.  Emory shot 44% (11-25) in the first half.

Over the first eight minutes of the second half the lead changed hands four times and the score was tied three times before Emory used an 8-1 run to grab the largest lead by either team of the half at 52-45 with 8:41 to play.  The Tartans answered the visitor's scamper scoring eight straight points to regain the lead 53-52, thanks to back-to-back three-pointers by freshmen Rashaun Riley and Asad Meghani.

With the Tartans leading 57-55, Emory's Jake Davis tied the score on a layup with 51 seconds on the clock. Following a missed shot by the Tartans and two Eagles timeouts, Davis had a chance to win the game in regulation, but his layup with one second left in regulation was no good sending the game to overtime with the score tied 57-57.

Davis started the overtime period with a jumper to give Emory a two-point lead.  On the ensuing possession down the court, Riley drained a trey from the top of the arc to give Carnegie Mellon a 60-59 lead, one they never relinquished.  The Tartans led by as many as five (70-65) with 30 seconds left in overtime, but Emory did not go down without a fight as they cut the lead to 71-70 with nine ticks remaining.  After a made foul shot by Tartan junior John Duhring, Emory had one last opportunity, but Austin Claunch's shot at the buzzer did not drop and the Tartans held on for the 72-70 victory.

The Tartans held the edge on the glass for only the seventh time this season improving to 5-2 when they do so, as they hauled in 45 boards to the Eagles 40.  Carnegie Mellon ended the game shooting 39.3% from the floor and 45.5% from long range while Emory shot 37.1% and 22.2%, respectively.

Rife led all players with career-highs in points and rebounds with 29 and 13 to record his second career double-double.  Senior Matthew Pettit and Duhring also scored in double figures as Pettit knocked in 13 and Duhring had 10.  Pettit also recorded five blocks in the win. Freshman Sean Brophy topped his career-high in rebounds from Friday night, as he hauled in 10 Sunday afternoon while Riley recorded a career-high three blocks in the win.

Emory was led by a core of players in double figures with Davis leading the way with 17 points.  Michael Friedberg was the next highest with 12 points as he also grabbed 12 rebounds.
 
The Tartans will conclude their regular season Saturday, February 26, when they travel to Cleveland, Ohio, to play Case Western Reserve University. The game is set to start at 5:00 p.m.