PITTSBURGH, PA – After each team made a dramatic play in the closing seconds to force an overtime period, Carnegie Mellon jumped ahead and held off Rochester for a 102-97 double overtime victory at Skibo Gym on Sunday afternoon.
 
The win by CMU snapped Rochester's nine-game winning streak. Rochester is 17-7 overall, 10-3 in the University Athletic Association. Rochester is tied for first place in the UAA standings with Emory University which lost at Case Western Reserve University, 86-78.
 
Emory (17-7, 10-3) comes to the Palestra on Saturday at noon. The winner of that game will capture the UAA championship and the UAA's Pool A (automatic) bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs.
 
Carnegie Mellon is 10-14 overall, 4-9 in the UAA. In January. Rochester edged CMU, 66-63, in a much slower-paced game.
 
Sam Borst-Smith led Rochester with 28 points, including his 1,000th career point. He became the 28th Rochester men's player top break the 1,000-point career mark. Jacob Wittig (21 pts.) and Michael Mangan (17 pts.) achieved career high point totals. Jared Seltzer had 15 points.
 
Ryan Maha led five Tartans in double figures. He scored 25 points, hitting 10 of 14 from the floor.  Jack Serbin, who made the first of the late game dramatic plays, had 19 points and 17 rebounds. Jason Sebak had 18 points and six assists. CMU held a 46-43 edge on the glass. Chris Shkil had 12 boards and 12 points for the Tartans.
 
Borst-Smith hit a three-pointer from left wing with 3:20 to go in regulation, putting Rochester ahead, 67-66. The Yellowjackets extended the lead to five points after reverse layups by Wittig and Mangan (71-66 with 1:15 left).
 
Shkil muscled inside for a layup (71-68 with 1:08 left) and after an exchange of possessions, the Tartans came down, missed, and battled for a rebound. With 10 seconds left, Serbin sank a three-pointer from in front of his own bench, tying the score at 71-all. Rochester missed just before the buzzer.
 
CMU's three-point barrage continued at the start of overtime, with Sebak, Maha, and Serbin all connecting from outside the arc to build an 80-71 lead in the first two minutes.
 
Seltzer and Wittig scored quickly for Rochester. Two free throws from Serbin eventually got the lead to 84-78. A tip-in by Mangan pulled Rochester within four points. With 15.6 seconds left, Sebak made two free throws for an 87-82 lead. Borst-Smith converted a four-point play five seconds later. He drained a three-pointer, drew a foul from Sebak, and made the free throw. One of two from the line by Sebak gave CMU an 88-86 lead with 9.3 seconds left. Borst-Smith missed a jumper, but Seltzer got the rebound and put in a 12-footer to tie with eight-tenths of a second left.
 
In the second OT, another early rush from CMU put the hosts up, 97-90, with less than two minutes left.  Rochester staged another rally. Dylan Peretz and Wittig made traditional three-point plays sandwiched around two free throws by Maha. Wittig's layup and free throw cut it to 99-96 with 32.5 left.
 
CMU hit only one of its next four free throws, but Rochester could not take advantage. The Yellowjackets trailed, 100-97, with just under six seconds left. Serbin knocked down two free throws to wrap it up.