CRESSON, PA - The men's basketball team of La Roche University traveled to Cresson, PA tonight to battle it out with the Mount Aloysius Mounties. In a contest where the Redhawks were slow to find their bearings, they were able to come out on top with a two point victory over the Mounties (74-72).
In the first period was a bumpy start for the Redhawks, the offense was only shooting 33.2 percent from field goal range, and less from the three point arc. A big jump start for La Roche was a big dunk from Kaydn Hannah; the momentum pushed the Redhawks to get going. The thing that helped bring them back in the first half: foul shots. LRU shot 80 percent at the free throw line. The team went into the locker room down by 13 points.
When La Roche emerged from the locker room in the second period, they were a new team, and the defense went to work on the court.
The Redhawks' defense forced the Mounties into 10 turnovers, resulting in 18 points. LRU's shooting percentage went up by 17 percent; shots were starting to fall their way. The same could not be said for their opponent.
The mounties shooting percentage decreased by nine percent. The Redhawks were able to hold MAC to 27 points in the final period. Even still, Mount Aloysius and La Roche took the same number of field goal attempts; 65. The Mounties made 30 of those attempts, and the Redhawks made 27.
The discipline for this win from the Redhawks comes from foul shots. At the end of the contest, La Roche had shot 20 of them, missing five. MAC on the other hand, shot 11 foul shots and only made five of those shots.
The leading scorer for the Redhawks today, is the player that made 83 percent of his free throws, only missing two out of 11. Kadyn Hannah ended the night with 17 points, shooting 57 percent from field goal range, and capturing nine rebounds.
Devon Darrell was right behind with 16 points; he shot 53.3 percent from the foul line. The Redhawk to push to double digits tonight was Desmond Ross. Ross netted 14 points to wrap up the win for the Redhawks.
The team will try to maintain the same momentum as they head to Alfred State this Saturday in a double header matchup. Tipoff is at 4:00 PM.