Senior
Chris Dende and junior
John DiBartolomeo scored all 10 points in overtime to lead the University of Rochester men's basketball team to a wild come from behind 72-64 victory Sunday afternoon in the Palestra over the Carnegie Mellon Tartans.
After trailing nearly the whole game a steal with 49 seconds remaining in the game gave the Yellowjackets (11-5, 2-3) a chance to take their first lead since 15:06 remaining in the first half. After running their offense, senior Nate Novosel was fouled and went to the line for two free throws. He cooley hit both and Rochester was ahead 59-58.
Carnegie Mellon (6-10, 1-4) then brought the ball up the court and then Rayshaun Riley hit a floater in the lane to get CMU back up by one. A charge on UR then allowed the Tartans to get the ball back up by three after an easy lay-up. Rochester came back down the court with 10 seconds left and had a 3-point attempt blocked out of bounds as time winded down. The referees then put 0.6 seconds back on the clock to give Rochester one last chance.
After a CMU timeout, the ball was inbounded to the senior Dende who threw up a prayer that rattled home tying the game at 62, sending it to overtime.
In the overtime, neither team scored a point for the first two minutes. Two DiBartolomeo free throws gave the Yellowjackets a two point lead. CMU answered with a basket to quickly tie it up. A straight on three from the Rochester All-American then gave UR a 67-64 lead. After a miss, DiBartolomeo then came up with a big steal and assist to Dende who drained a three from the corner putting the home team up by six with 11 seconds remaining. Two more free throws then put the game away in favor of the Yellowjackets.
After a slow start to the game with neither team being able to find their range, the Tartans were able to apply good pressure and force some Yellowjacket turnovers helping build an early lead. Christian Manoli and Andre Moore were the workhorses for CMU scoring 16 of the first 23 points.
Then after getting a few shots to fall, Carnegie Mellon was able to more than double up the Yellowjackets with a 19-4 run, putting CMU up 25-12 with seven minutes remaining in the half.
Solid play from the junior DiBartolomeo and senior
Marcus Williams allowed UR to stay within 10 before the half. A Dende 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining cut into the Tartan lead. Rochester entered the locker room behind by six, trailing 30-24.
The Yellowjackets struggled from the floor in the first 20 minutes, only connecting on 11 of 30 shots (37%) while also only making 1 of 9 from long range. UR also had 11 turnovers to only four assists at the half. Rochester's leading scorer at the break was Williams who had eight points (4-4 FG) and five rebounds.
The Tartans had their share of shooting woes, only connecting on 11 of 32 (34%) shots from the floor. The halftime lead was accounted for by CMU shooting 6-11 from 3-point range, including two each by Manoli, Moore and Riley. Manoil paced Carnegie Mellon with 10 points and two rebounds in the half.
Carnegie Mellon stormed out of the gates in the second half with a 9-2 run, helping bolster the lead to 13. The run was then answered right back with a UR 6-0 run, displaying the quickness of the Yellowjackets with all of the points coming on the fast break. With 15 minutes remaining, Rochester trailed by seven, 39-32.
CMU then answered with another 8-2 run to help build to their biggest lead of the game, leading 47-32.
A couple of missed chances on the offensive end, coupled with two
Nate Vernon 3-pointers helped UR claw its way back into the game, trailing by seven at 49-42 with 10:30 remaining.
For Rochester, Dende was the leading scorer with 16 points. DiBartolomeo had 14 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. Nate Novosel had 11 points and five boards while
Rob Reid chipped in eight points and nine rebounds.
The Tartans were led by Riley who had 20 points while shooting 7-13 from the floor (4-5 3-pt). Manoli added 16 points and six rebounds. Joe Kromka also had 11 points and nine rebounds.
The Yellowjackets next travel to the Midwest next weekend to face UAA foes Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Chicago.
