GREENSBURG, PA -- The La Roche men's basketball team took sole control of second place in the AMCC after beating Pitt-Greensburg 80-61 on Wednesday. Penn State Behrend defeated Hilbert this evening to remain atop the conference. The loss drops Hilbert a game behind the Redhawks and into a third place tie.
The Redhawks turned a 12-11 lead at the 14:18 mark into a 23-11 advantage less than four minutes later. The run came because of La Roche's ability to shoot and defend the three. Darius Lawrence and Ryan Norkus bookended the run with three-pointers while Pitt-Greensburg missed all four of their attempts attempts.
The Bobcats cut it to six with 8:14 left in the half. La Roche responded on the defensive end holding Pitt-Greensburg scoreless for nearly five minutes. The Redhawks were equally as impressive on the offensive end, extending their lead to twenty-one points. Trell Thomas found the hot hand sinking a pair of threes. Zach Gould hit a jumper just before half for a 42-21 lead.
Pitt-Greensburg used the three to slowly chip away at the lead. They got within fifteen points with 10:35 left, but a 7-0 run and an Austin Hannes three-pointer cut the comeback short. La Roche built their lead up to as many as twenty-three and cruised to the road victory.
Arnes Bajgora finished a rebound shy of a double-double with 15 points and 9 rebounds. He also jumped into sixth on the school's all-time scoring list and fifth on the rebounding list.
A majority of the team played double digit minutes. Norkus nearly registered a double-double with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Thomas had 11 points and 5 assists and RayQuan Phifer chipped in 11 points and 6 rebounds. Hannes played quality minutes off the bench and finished with 8 points.
The Redhawks held a 46-33 advantage on the boards and limited Pitt-Greensburg to just 36% from the field. La Roche was also excellent from the line, converting 83% of their free throws.
La Roche will travel to D'Youville on Saturday for a 2pm start. The Spartans have yet to lose in 2018 and are winners of three in a row.