Though they led by as many as 10 in the second half, Carnegie Mellon closed the second half on a 7-1 run over the final 2:10 and the University of Rochester men's basketball fell to the Tartans, 70-66, on a snowy, Friday evening inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.
 
With the loss, Rochester drops to 8-7 (2-2 UAA), while the Tartans remain tied atop the conference at 11-4 (3-1 UAA) on the year.
 
Both teams got off to a slow start, combining for just four made field goals over the first five minutes. Tomiwa Adetosoye broke the seal for UR, with his driving layup opening up the scoring and giving the 'Jackets a 2-0 lead at the 17:52 mark of the first half.
 
The Yellowjackets would score 10 of the first 13 points of the first half, opening the game on a 10-3 run as the Tartans shot just 1-for-6 in the early going, compared to 5-for-8 for UR.
 
But Carnegie Mellon would flip the script over the next three minutes, answering with a 10-0 run while the 'Jackets shot 0-for-6 from the floor, capped off by Jack Stone's three, to take a 13-10 lead just over nine minutes into the first.
 
Rochester would come right back with another run of their own though, scoring the next nine straight, including five-in-a-row from C.J. Amsellem, to make it a 19-13 UR lead with 8:15 until the half.
 
After Amsellem sank a trey, the 6-foot big man got a steal on the other end and took it the length of the court to help Rochester retake the lead. Malachi Moore would add a free throw and Logan Jagodzinski a triple, but the Tartans would answer right back with another run.
 
Justin Allen answered Jagodzinski's three with a dunk, kickstarting an 11-3 run for the visitors, with R.J. Holmes scoring seven of the Tartans' 11 points over the 2:22 stretch to take a 24-22 lead.
 
Carnegie Mellon would lead by three at the 3:42 mark, before the Yellowjackets ended the first half with one last run, holding the Tartans scoreless for the final three-and-a-half minutes of the period.
 
Jagodzinski's triple knotted the score up at 28-all, before fast-break layups by Matt Wiele and Jagodzinski made it a 6-0 UR run, and a 32-28 Rochester lead heading into the break.
 
Wiele then kicked off the second with a triple from Adetosoye, as the 'Jackets opened the second half with 10 of the first 14 points to take their largest lead of the night, 42-32, with 16:04 to play.
 
However, the Tartans would claw their way back, first cutting Rochester's lead to three on Aidan Murphy's three-pointer, which capped off a 9-2 run, with 13:08 to play, before Aidan Booher made it a two-point game with his layup with 9:19 remaining.
 
Adetosoye answered on UR's ensuing possession with a layup, but two Holmes' free throws again made it a one-possession game.
 
Up two with 8:24 left, the 'Jackets would find their rhythm, with a 9-4 run once again making it a seven-point game. Layups by Malachi Moore and Jagodzinski brought the lead back out to six, before Moore sank a triple to extend UR's advantage to 60-53 with 6:11 left.
 
But once again, the Tartans made a run, and this time, took the lead with 3:35 to play on Allen's layup from Stone following a Rochester turnover.
 
Adetosoye quickly answered to put UR back in front, but Stone scored again to make it 63-62 in favor of the visitors with three minutes to play.
 
After Jagodzinski went 1-for-2 at the line, UR and CMU stood tied at 63, and then after the 'Jackets got a stop, Jagodzinski scored a layup to make it a 65-53 Rochester lead. But that'd be UR's last field goal of the contest.
 
Stone drew a foul and went 1-for-2 at the line on the ensuing possession, and after UR couldn't extend their lead on the ensuing possession, the Tartans took advantage of a second-chance opportunity with Allen's triple, taking a 67-65 lead.
 
Out of a timeout, the 'Jackets went to work down two, but Moore missed a layup and Nolan Casey scored on the other end to make it a two-possession game, before a late free throw from Holmes sealed it for Carnegie Mellon.
 
After shooting 39.4 percent in the first half, the Yellowjackets shot just 35.3 percent in the second half, and just 2-for-5 and 0-for-1 from beyond the arc in the final five minutes. The Tartans shot 32.4 percent in the first and 44.1 percent in the second, ending the game on a 7-1 run to pick up the victory.
 
Jagodzinski led all scorers with 20 points, adding 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the year. Adetosoye joined the junior in double figures with 16 points, while Allen led the Tartans with 20.
 
Carnegie Mellon outrebounded UR, 47-43, scoring 20 second-chance points off 16 rebounds, while the 'Jackets outscored CMU on the break, 13-8, with both teams forcing 12 turnovers.
 
The Yellowjackets will look to bounce back when they wrap up the weekend against No. 2 Case Western Reserve on Sunday, Jan. 21 at 12:00 p.m. inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.