PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Chatham Men's Basketball (0-1, 0-0 PAC) was defeated 82-64 at Carnegie Mellon (2-0, 0-0 UAA) in its season opener on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Tartans pulled ahead early, scoring the first 4 points and leading 17-5 at the 12-minute mark of the first half. Seniors Diaun Pinkett and Jake TenBerge then made back-to-back baskets before Carnegie Mellon went on a 21-5 run to take control of the game. Junior Drew Vizenor's three-point basket with a minute left in the half stopped the bleeding, but the Cougars found themselves trailing by 22 at the intermission.
 
Chatham scored 7 of the first 9 points in the second half before an 8-1 Tartan burst brought their advantage back up to 20. Carnegie Mellon would lead by as much as 30 points in the second half, going up 70-40 with 10 minutes to play. Two more Vizenor three-pointers and a Lovenson Xavier basket from deep brought the Cougars within 18, but it was too little too late for Chatham. The Tartans held at least a 16-point advantage for the remainder of the game.
 
Isaac Higgs and Evan Mirazimi both scored 16 points on 7-11 shooting for Carnegie Mellon. Mirazimi also recorded 8 rebounds and a game-high 3 blocks for the Tartans. Nikola Dimitrijevic went 5-9 from the field, netting 10 points and dishing out a game-high 4 assists.
 
TenBerge was the Cougars' leading scorer with 16 points in his first game for Chatham. Pinkett, the 2024 PAC Player of the Year, scored 10 points along with a game high 9 rebounds and 3 steals. Vizenor and Xavier both put up 9 points, with Vizenor scoring all 9 from beyond the arc. The Cougars shot 32.9% for the game, while Carnegie Mellon made half of its field goal attempts.
 
Chatham plays its next game at the Athletic and Fitness Center, hosting Penn State Altoona on Wednesday at 6 p.m.