PITTSBURGH, PA – The La Roche men's basketball team put together a furious comeback, fighting back to force overtime and climb back to the AMCC Championship game. Gould drained the tying three late in regulation and the Redhawks ran away in overtime 69-62. They will play tomorrow at 3pm against the Penn State Behrend/Medaille winner.
Both teams came to play in the early minutes. Zach Gould traded three-pointers with Mt. Aloysius as they ran into the first timeout at 6-6 and 16:18 left to play in the first half.
La Roche came out of the timeout with a stop and Tyler Frederick drained an open three for a 9-6 advantage. Gould drew a charge and Shawn Dunnings found Ryan Norkus on the opposite end for a five point lead.
Norkus owned the boards early, and in the twelfth minute, pulled down an offensive rebound to convert a three point play.
Mt. Aloysius responded with 8 of the next 10 points before a Kennedy Smith three-pointer got the Redhawks back up one. Both teams continued to battle with Gould providing a three and the Mounties a three-point play.
Norkus and Smith kept on attacking the boards and providing offense for La Roche, but the Mounties entered halftime with a 33-31 lead.
Dunnings came out of the half with a three-pointer to give the Redhawks a one point advantage. Mt. Aloysius upped the temp on defense and ran off a 13-2 run. La Roche got things going and a Darrell Barron three-pointer closed the gap from 8 points to just 3 with 9:42 left to play.
RayQuan Phifer drained a pair of free throws at the 7:11 mark to give the Redhawks their first lead since the first half. Following a Mt. Aloysius three-pointer, Phifer found Frederick for an alley-oop and a one point lead.
The Mounties ran off five straight points and Coach Carmichael was forced to call a timeout with 3:25 remaining. Frederick came out of the timeout with a jumper from the elbow and Norkus drew a charge on the opposite end.
Darius Lawrence hit a free throw to cut the deficit to one, but the Mounties buried an off balance three to go back up four.
Frederick battled for a rebound on the other end and earned a free throw for his efforts. The Redhawks made a defensive stand and Gould buried a three-pointer with 18 seconds left. A Frederick block sent it into overtime.
La Roche completed the comeback in overtime. Frederick started the run with an offensive rebound and found Austin Hannes for a three-pointer. Hannes followed with a layup and the Redhawks hit their free throws to preserve the victory.
Gould scored a game-high 19 points and hit 4 of 8 three-pointers. Frederick registered a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Norkus had 10 points and 8 rebounds while Lawrence and Phifer each dished out 5 assists.