Alyssa Cwanger, Post-Gazette Carnegie Mellon's Bary Dunn shoots against La Roche's Zack Kostorick in the first half Jan. 29 at La Roche College. The Tartans won, 95-79. Click photo for larger image.

The question often popped into Bary Dunn's mind the past three seasons when he sat on the bench the entire game. When he spent hours in the empty gym shooting jump shot after jump shot. Or when his muscles ached lifting weights in the summer:

"Why am I doing this?"

Dunn, a 6-foot-6 senior swingman at Carnegie Mellon, discovered the answer when he scored 34 points -- one more than his career total -- and was named the most valuable player after the Tartans won the Radisson/Carnegie Mellon Tournament championship last week.

"This is what I stuck around for," said Dunn, an Allderdice High School graduate who scored 16 points in CMU's tournament-opening 106-70 victory against Oberlin and 18 in a 87-85 victory against Bethany in the title game. "But there were times when I wondered if it hasn't happened by now, when is it going to happen? This is what I stuck around for. The payoff has been huge."

Dunn paused, then added: "Hidden beneath everything is my passion for basketball. I always wanted to be on the team and the guys really motivated me and helped keep me going. They truly wanted me to get in there and make an impact."

Dunn's previous high game was seven points against Oberlin last season.

Dunn's emergence as a valuable "sixth man" has been one of the reasons CMU is 5-0 for the first time in school history. The Tartans face their sternest test of the young season when they play at the University of Rochester (N.Y.) tomorrow in a University Athletic Association game. Rochester (5-1), which defeated then-No. 16 John Carroll by 30 points two weeks ago, was the NCAA Division III national runner-up last season.

CMU has five players that score in double figures, led by Clayton Barlow-Wilcox (17.2 ppg) and Nate Maurer (16 ppg). The Tartans average 92.8 points per game.

	Highlights from performances by individuals and teams in district colleges last week: Washington and Jefferson senior guard Leigh Sulkowski (Upper St. Clair) scored 29 points in a 93-80 victory against Pitt-Greensburg to become the school's third all-time men's and women's basketball scorer with 1,531 points. Sulkowski averages 27.8 points for the Presidents, ranked 18th in NCAA Division III. W&J wide receiver/kick returner Aaron Krepps, and Grove City strong safety Aaron Margo will play for the American Football Coaches Association's Division III All-Star team against the Mexican National team in the Aztec Bowl Dec. 17 in Toluca, Mexico. The U.S. team won, 23-3, and lead the series, 7-1. The W&J men and Grove City women have narrow leads in the Presidents' Athletic Conference All-Sports Trophy at the conclusion of the fall sports. The trophy is awarded annually to the most successful men's and women's programs in league competition. The men competed in championships for cross country, football and soccer in the fall and the women in cross country, soccer, tennis and volleyball. Edinboro's Daren Tielsch, a 6-foot-8 senior from Montour who had 23 points (9 of 10 from the field) and 11 rebounds in an 89-56 victory against West Virginia Wesleyan, is the West Division player of the week in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Slippery Rock freshman Jeff Weiss finished third among a field of 184 runners with a time of 31:18.2 at the NCAA Division II cross country championships in Pomona, Calif.

CMU is coming off a 95-79 victory against La Roche in which Dunn scored seven points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

"He's going to continue to come off the bench because I really like someone who can come into the game and give us a spark," coach Tony Wingen said. "Dunn didn't play much his first three years because he's been in a numbers crunch at his position and always had older players ahead of him. His stepping up this season was going to be integral for us. I don't know if his talent level has increased, but now he's getting the opportunity.

"He's improved his aggressiveness and is giving us more rebounding. That is something we've wanted him to do. His intensity has not always been there."

Before this year, Dunn had scored 33 points while playing 73 minutes in 24 games. He has never started a game at CMU.

"It wasn't always easy [not playing]," said Dunn, who averages 10.4 points and 5.4 rebounds in 16.8 minutes this season. "I have only so many minutes available so I have to make as much impact as I can with my time on the court. I think my role has been established on this team and I'm not looking over my shoulder if I make a mistake or miss a shot."

Dunn was in a shooting comfort zone during the tournament, making 7 of 11 from the field against Oberlin and 8 of 10 against Bethany. The 16 points against Oberlin was nice, but Dunn was more pleased with the 18 against Bethany, the team to beat in the Presidents' Athletic Conference.

"I set a lot of personal goals before the season," Dunn said, "but by no means was MVP of the tournament on the list."

Neither were the two monster dunks that pumped up Dunn, along with his teammates and fans at CMU's Skibo Gym.

"That doesn't happen too often," he said laughing. "My jumping ability is one of the best on the team."

The most immediate goal for CMU is a victory against Rochester, the favorite in the UAA.

"They were picked to win the league and we were picked fourth," Wingen said. "We'll be ready."