GREENSBURG, Pa:  Carnegie Mellon used a strong second half to pull away from Pitt-Greensburg in the 2014-15 season opener, 99-93.

With under a minute to play UPG trailed by just 3 points before CMU's Ryan Maha hit a three pointer with only 20 seconds left on the clock to push the CMU lead to 6.  The Bobcats couldn't counter and the Tartans would escape Greensburg with the victory.

UPG had 5 scorers in double digits on the afternoon, led by junior guard Jerell Figueroa with 26 points to go along with 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.  Junior Rocco Contristano had 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, while senior Brian Heinle had 13 points and 5 rebounds.  Marcus Thomas finished with 11 points and a team high 8 rebounds and 6^th man Mike Connelly came off the bench to add 12 points on the day.

The Bobcats started out strong in a fast paced, up-tempo matchup.  CMU had a distinctive height advantage over UPG but the Bobcats countered with their high energy attack.  UPG shot 8 of 18 (44%) from three point range in the first half and built a 10 point lead midway through the opening frame.  CMU made a late first half run to close the gap as the teams entered halftime with UPG leading 43-41.

UPG led by 8 midway through the 2^nd half but missed 5 consecutive shots, allowing the Tartans to climb back into the game and take control.
Pitt-Greensburg was 33 of 71 (46%) shooting on the day, while the Tartans shot 31 of 63 (49%).  CMU held a 44-33 advantage on the boards.

Pitt-Greensburg will look to even its record this Wednesday (Nov 19^th) when they travel to Grove City College for 6:30pm matchup.