PITTSBURGH. Pa. – After a back-and-forth battle to open the Carnegie Mellon DoubleTree Invitational, the Carnegie Mellon Tartans were able to edge out the Salisbury University men's basketball team, 71-70 on Saturday.

THE RUNDOWN

Final Score: Carnegie Mellon 71, Salisbury 70
Records: Salisbury (3-5) | Carnegie Mellon (3-2)
Location: Wiegand Gym – Pittsburgh, Pa. 

BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Salisbury got out to a fast start, starting the game on an 18-5 run in the first nine minutes of the game. Gary Briddell accounted for nine of Salisbury's first 18 points of the contest. 
• Carnegie Mellon erased their deficit and ended the half on a 16-4 run to make it a 35-34 game heading into halftime.
• The second half saw eight lead changes and three ties as the two teams tried to break away from each other.
• Carnegie Mellon got out to their biggest lead of the game, 64-56, with 5:27 left in regulation after Zach Howarth made a pair of free throws.
• Salisbury clawed back into the game and made it a two-point game with four seconds left in the game when Mike Ward knocked down a three on a Devin Garrett assist.
• Needing to foul, Salisbury sent CMU's Nick Nakasian to the line. Nakasian missed both of his free throws and Ward grabbed the rebound.
• Ward was fouled with seconds left in the game. Ward made his first free throw to make it a 71-70 game but missed his second. Garrett was able to get the offensive rebound but wasn't able to convert the putback.

GAME NOTES

• Carnegie Mellon shot 43.1 percent (25-58) from the field compared to Salisbury's 42.2 percent (27-64) shooting.
• The Sea Gulls held a 45-41 rebounding edge over the Tartans.
• Mike Ward tallied a game-high 19 points, Gary Briddell also tallied double-digits with 17 points. Both Ward and Briddell had four rebounds. Briddell stole the ball three times while Ward added three assists and two steals.
• Lucas Martin notched 14 points and rebounded the ball five times.
• Johnny Fierstein notched a game-high 12 rebounds and dished out four assists.
• Cameron Heard recorded seven points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench.
• Devin Garrett reeled in seven rebounds in 24 minutes of work.
• Three Carnegie Mellon players were in double figures. Ethan Miller held a team-high of 15 points followed closely by Colin McNeil with 13 points. Joey Krempa notched 11 off the bench.

UP NEXT

• Salisbury will continue in the Carnegie Mellon DoubleTree Invitational in Pittsburgh, Pa. over Thanksgiving weekend.
• The invitational ends tomorrow, Dec. 1 as the Sea Gulls take on the Brockport Golden Eagles.
• Video and live stats are all available.