BUFFALO, NY - La Roche men's basketball improved to 14-1 in conference play Saturday afternoon after taking down D'Youville College (4-16, 3-12) at the College Center Gym, 82-75. The second to last place Spartans have given the Redhawks a couple scares in both games this season, but ultimately La Roche prevailed, sweeping D'Youville in regular season play by an average margin of victory of nine points. Fittingly, today's win is LRU's ninth in a row over D'Youville dating back to 2015.
The Redhawks 15-6 run in the last five minutes of the first half proved to be the difference maker in today's contest. Although D'Youville attempted ten more shots than La Roche and seven more free-throws in the second half, the Redhawk outshot the Spartans 48% to 37%, outscoring the Spartans 44-43 in the second.
Tyler Frederick recorded his conference high 12th double-double of the season (T-8th in D-III) and second straight with a team-high 17 points and 17 rebounds (2nd most this season) while shooting 50% (6-12) from the field. Frederick also dished four assists and added a block.
Darius Lawrence finished with 14 points, four assists, three rebounds and shot a perfect 6 of 6 at the free-throw line.
Kennedy Smith and Luke McDonough nearly posted double-doubles (Smith: 11 points, nine rebounds, four assists | McDonough: nine points, 10 rebounds, three blocks).
Austin Hannes finished with 13 points and shot 43% (3-7) from beyond the arc.
Final: La Roche: 82, D'Youville: 75
Records: La Roche (14-6, AMCC: 14-1), D'Youville (4-16, AMCC: 3-12)
How it Happened
The conference foes went back and fourth throughout the first eight minutes of today's contest, exchanging the lead six times during that span. The Spartans then rattled off a 6-0 run to go up 24-18 with 9:03 still to play in the half.
The Redhawks answered with a 7-2 run of their own with help from Kennedy Smith who drained back-to-back buckets to bring the game within one with five minutes remaining in the first. LRU closed out the half on a 15-6 run to head into halftime ahead 38-32. During the run that proved to be the difference maker in today's contest, the Redhawks shot 6 of 7 from the free throw line.
La Roche carried that momentum into the second, starting the half on an 8-4 run to go up by ten after six and a half minutes of action. D'Youville would get close on multiple occasions, but never managed to regain the lead over the Redhawks. The Spartans made it especially interesting after transfer Brian Sharp hit a 3-PT to put D'Youville within four points with one minute to go in the game. In the last minute, D'Youville shot 0 of 3 from three-point range while La Roche shot 3 of 4 at the line to seal the deal, 82-75
Inside the Box Score
LRU improved their shooting as the contest went on. In the first half, the Redhawks were 32% (12-37) from the field and 23% (3-13) from three-point range compared to the second where they shot 48% (15-31) from the floor and 44% (4-9) from deep.
La Roche won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding D'Youville 56-47, tied for the second highest mark of the season.
The Redhawks three man bench of Desmond Ross, Jioni Smith and Joe Pipilo outscored the hosts bench 18-5. The bench also provided 13 rebounds, 5 assists, three blocks and two steals.
La Roche shot 32% (7 of 22) from beyond the arc. Over the last two games La Roche have shot 30% (15-50) from deep over their last two games.
D'Youville's Will Saunders and Devon Darrell combined for 48 points, scoring a game-high 24 a piece.
Darius Lawrence moved into first place in career wins in La Roche basketball program history with 79. Lawrence has played 101 games for the Redhawks over his four year career.
NEXT UP: Men's basketball gets a week of no games before taking on AMCC rival Penn St. Behrend at the Kerr next Saturday, February 8th. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.