BUFFALO, NY - The La Roche men's basketball team improved to 3-0 in conference play Saturday afternoon after taking down the Medaille Mavericks on the road, 90-79. The win is the Redhawks third in their last four games and the fourth straight over the AMCC foe. The Redhawks are one of only two teams still unbeaten in conference play.
Final: La Roche: 90, Medaille: 79
Records: La Roche (3-5, AMCC: 3-0), Medaille (2-7, AMCC: 0-4)
How it Happened
The Mavericks started out the contest with the hot hand, taking a 16-10 lead eight minutes into the half; LRU shot 5-15 (33%) from the field during that span. Then, the Redhawks offense erupted for a 15-0 run behind four straight buckets from Senior guard Kennedy Smith to give La Roche a 25-16 advantage. From there, they never looked back.
La Roche kept their foot on the gas and finished the half ahead 50-36, the most points scored by men's basketball in the first half of a game this season. After being down six points to start the contest, the Redhawks shot a ridiculous 17-20 (85%) from the field during their 40-20 run. The duo of Smith and Junior guard Austin Hannes combined for 39 points after 20 minutes of action on 13-15 FG and a perfect 5-5 from 3-PT land.
Medaille opened the second half on a 14-7 run to bring the game within single digits. The Mavericks brought the game within five points with seven minutes left in the second after Brock Kroening knocked down a mid-range jumper to make the score 71-66. La Roche's Darius Lawrence answered with a pair of free-throws and a mid-range jumper to bring LRU's lead back up to nine. Lawrence scored 10 of the Redhawks last 19 points to help close out the contest.
Inside the Box Score
Kennedy Smith finished with a game-high 27 points, shooting 11-13 from the field and a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc. In the Homestead native's breakout season, he has gone for 32 and 27 twice over and has scored at least 20 points in five of his last six games. Smith is leading the AMCC with an average of 20.8 points per game. Smith added 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in the contest.
Three other Redhawks finished in double-digit scoring figures (Hannes: 22, Lawrence: 18, Frederick: 12). The 22 points is a season-high for Hannes and only one point shy of his career-high.
Junior forward Tyler Frederick picked up his third double-double of the season reeling in a game-high 15 rebounds. Frederick is the only player in the conference to rank in the top 5 in both scoring and rebounding averages (17.7 PPG, 4th in AMCC | 11.3 RPG, T-1st in AMCC).
As a unit, the Redhawks shot a season best 58% from the floor, knocking down 34-59 shots. LRU has shot over 50% in all three wins this season.
La Roche made a solid 14-18 (78%) from the free throw line.
Four Mavericks finished with 10+ points led by Jonathan Smith who finished with 22 points on 10-14 FG.
LRU tied their single game season-low with only 12 personal fouls.
NEXT UP: Men's basketball continues their road trip next Wednesday, December 18th in Cresson, PA at Mt. Aloysius. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m.