(RICHMOND, Ind.) – The Carnegie Mellon men's basketball team, ranked 18th nationally, traveled to Indiana for the Earlham Classic. On Sunday, they competed in the second day of competition, facing Hanover College and defeated the Panthers 90-89 in overtime. The Tartans are now 5-1 overall while the Panthers are now 4-1.

How it Happened

• Junior Justin Allen connected on back-to-back layups three minutes into the contest to give the Cardinal and Gray a 7-2 advantage.
• With 14 minutes remaining in the first half, senior Nolan Casey made a three-pointer, assisted by graduate student RJ Holmes, that brought the score to 13-4.
• The Panthers then scored nine of the next 11 points, which pulled the score 15-13.
• The Tartans then went on a 10-1 run, that included layups from Holmes and sophomore Isaac Higgs, to make the score 25-14 with eight minutes remaining in the first half.
• The Tartans continued to increase their lead with free throws from freshman Alex Hassanein, a layup from senior Aidan Murphy, and a three-pointer from junior Buckley DeJardin and a triple from Allen. With five minutes remaining in the first half, the Tartans led 39-18.
• The Panthers then tightened the score, as they used an 11-2 spurt to make the score 41-29 with 2:33 remaining.
• Carnegie Mellon then closed the end of the first half scoring nine of the last 11 points to expand the lead to 50-31 at the half.
• At the beginning of the second half, the Tartans and the Panthers went point-for-point,
• With 13 minutes remaining, the Tartans held a 17-point lead with a score of 59-42.
• The Panthers then used a 19-4 run over the next seven minutes and pulled the score to within a bucket at 63-61. During the run the Panthers held the Tartans to a 1-of-12 showing from the field.
• With 34 seconds reaming in regulation, Hanover's CJ Walls gave the Panters a 74-73 lead after he converted a pair of foul shots.
• Holmes retook the lead for the Tartans with a traditional three-point play with 20 ticks left on the clock.
• On the ensuing possession down the court, Jack Miller converted a driving layup with nine seconds remaining to knot the score at 76-all.
• The Tartans had a chance to win it in regulation, but a three-point attempt from the corner by sophomore Isaac Higgs spun around the rim and game headed to an extra frame.
• In overtime, a triple by Hassanein gave the Tartans the lead, 83-80, at the 3:05 mark.
• On two different occasions in the last 1:19 to play, a steal and fastbreak layup by DeJardin and Allen, sandwiched with a Panther layup, gave the Tartans a 90-86 lead with 0:19 remaining.
• Miller connected on a three-pointer with three seconds left and following a missed free throw by the Tartans, the Panters had once last shot, but it fell short.

Tartan Stats

• The Tartans finished shooting 47.6% (30-63) from the floor and 6-23 from behind the arc for 26.1%. They shot 77.4% (24-31) from the foul line.
• Allen led the team with 24 points. He shot 10-of-19 from the floor and 1-of-4 from behind the arc.
• DeJardin finished with 15 points in the win and recorded a career-high three blocks.
• Hassanein scored a season-high 14 points, as he converted 9-of-10 from the line.
• Senior Nolan Casey scored 12 while Holmes cashed in with 11 and had a team-high 11 rebounds and five assists. Holmes also recorded three blocks.

Panther Stats

• The Panthers ended shooting 47.9% (34-71) from the floor and converted 6-of-17 from behind the arc for 35.3%. They shot 57.7% (15-26) from the foul line.
• Malachi McNair led the team with 20 points, shooting 9-of-11 from the floor. He also had a game-high of 15 rebounds.
• Luke Miller ended with 16 points, shooting 7-of-14 from the floor and 2-of-4 from behind the arc.

Notes

• Holmes recorded his fourth double-double of the season, third straight, and now has 26 for his career.
• Allen needs 21 points to become the 22nd Tartans to score 1,000 for their career.
• Allen, DeJardin and Holmes have now scored in double figures in all six games this season.
• The Tartans are now 8-2 in their last 10 overtime games played.
• The 24 free throws made by the Tartans is the most in a game since recording 37 made on February 5, 2023, in a win over Brandeis. The 37 made free throws were one off the school record of 38 made during the 1953-54 season against Saint Vincent.

Up Next

The Tartans will host the UAA Challenge on December 7-8 and will open play against Bowdoin on Saturday, December 7.