Hammersmith, Cannan lead Polar Bears in championship game of Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) Tournament

Nov. 25, 2007

By Tim Glon

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Loudan Hammersmith and Jake Cannan each scored 14 points and earned All-Tournament Team honors, but it was not enough as host Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) topped Ohio Northern 71-60 in the championship game of the Carnegie Mellon Tournament Sunday afternoon.

The Polar Bears (2-2) also had Kyle Gehle in double figures in scoring with 11 points.

The Tartans (3-1) were led by Ryan Einwag, who scored a game-high 20 points.

Susquehanna (Pa.) defeated Haverford (Pa.) 66-59 in overtime in the consolation game.

Northern started the second half on a 14-0 run to take its first lead of the game at 40-33 with 14:04 left to play.

But CMU answered with an 11-0 run of its own to regain the lead for good at 44-40 with 10:38 left in the game.

The lead was 56-48 when Gehle nailed a three-pointer to trim the deficit to 56-51.

A basket by Cannan made it 58-53 with 3:11 left, but CMU would make 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to hold off the ONU rally.

It appeared that the Tartans would run away with the game early, as the hosts raced to a quick 17-4 lead in the first seven minutes of action.

Back-to-back baskets by Cannan, a three-pointer from Gehle and a three-point play by Ezra Bradshaw pulled ONU within 21-16 with 9:36 left in the half.

Hammersmith scored inside at the 5:01 mark to get the Polar Bears within 26-22, but the Tartans would push its lead to 33-26 at intermission.

Ohio Northern made 23-of-65 field goals for 35.4 percent, was 5-of-14 from three-point range for 5.7 percent and made 9-of-13 from the foul line for 77.8 percent.

Carnegie Mellon made 26-of-58 of its field goals for 44.8 percent. CMU was 6-of-18 from three-point land for 33.3 percent and made 13-of-22 free throws for 59.1 percent.

Led by a career-high nine rebounds from Kyle Meyer, Northern out-rebounded the Tartans 46-38.

Greg Gonzalez had 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds and Jack Anderson had 10 points for CMU.

The Polar Bears will return to action Wednesday at area-rival Wittenberg at 7:30 pm.