(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The 22nd-ranked Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team took home a huge win against 21st-ranked Middlebury College on Sunday, December 8 in the second game of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Challenge for both teams. The Tartans topped the Panthers, 80-75, after hitting a season-high 12 three-pointer to move to 7-1 for the year while the Panthers drop to 6-2.

Inside the Box Score

• Junior Buckley DeJardin scored nine of the team's first 20 points, including a dunk from his own steal that led the Tartans to a ten-point lead in the beginning of the first half.
• Junior Justin Allen scored seven straight for the Tartans later in the half to push the Tartans to a 14-point advantage with 5:46 to go.
• Graduate student R.J. Holmes hit the team's sixth three-pointer of the half with 2:09 to play to make it 38-27 before Middlebury's Evan Flaks hit a jumper in the paint as time expired for the half to cut it to a nine-point deficit for the visitor's at the break.
• The Tartans shot just 35.5% from the floor in the half but 54.5% from behind the arc and they made 10-of-11 from the free throw line compared to three triples and two free throws for Middlebury.
• The Panthers slowly used a 18-10 run to climb within one point of the Tartans after 5:49 ticked off the clock. After a triple by senior Aidan Murphy put the Tartans back up four, the Panthers scored four straight to tie the game at 51-all with 12:33 to play in the game.
• The Tartans took the lead back after senior Nolan Casey scored five straight, and despite the Panthers pulling to within one, the Tartans held the lead the remainder of the game with sophomore Isaac Higgs hitting 5-of-6 free throws in the last 1:10 to keep the deficit too much for Middlebury to overcome.

Tartan Stats

• Allen led four players in double figures with 24 points after making 4-of-9 from behind the arc.
• DeJardin closed with 16 points while Higgs had 14 points and Holmes had 12 points.
• Holmes recorded his fifth double-double with a game-high 14 rebounds.
• Holmes and Casey led with three assists each while Casey had three blocks in the game.

Panter Stats

• Four scored in double figures with Sam Stevens leading with 20 points.
• Flaks finished with 18 points while Kuba Cwalina had 15 and Edward Witherington had 10 points.
• David Brennan led with 10 rebounds and four assists.

Up Next

The Tartans will host Washington and Jefferson College on Tuesday, December 17 with a tip off time at 12:00 p.m.