STEUBENVILLE, Oh. - La Roche men's basketball faces off against conference opponent Franciscan University this Wednesday, January 15th at the Finnegan Fieldhouse. Wednesday's contest is the Redhawks third straight on the road. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m.

Coverage

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La Roche (OVR: 8-5, AMCC: 8-0)

Last Time Out: Men's basketball defeated Penn St. Behrend on the road last Saturday (1/11) in the AMCC Game of the Week, 57-55. Senior guard Darius Lawrence ran an isolation play and scored the go-ahead bucket with 5.3 seconds remaining on the clock to lift La Roche over the reigning AMCC champs. Lawrence finished with a game-high 17 points while shooting a perfect 8 of 8 from the line and added four assists, two rebounds and a steal to the box score. Junior forward Tyler Frederick collected his sixth straight double-double in Saturdays's contest, posting 13 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Kennedy Smith was the only other Redhawk to finish in double-digit figures, posting 10 points and 8 rebounds. The Redhawks managed to hold the Lions to only 55 points and 19 made field goals, both season-lows for Penn St. Behrend who averages 74.6 points per game. La Roche committed only 11 turnovers to Penn St. Behrend's 17.

News and Notes

• The Redhawks have won seven straight games and remain the top seed in the AMCC standings with an unblemished 8-0 record in conference play.
• Pitt Greensburg, who La Roche defeated 89-73 at home earlier this season, is only one game of the Redhawks at 7-1 in AMCC action.
• La Roche men's basketball has won 28 straight regular season conference games dating back to the 2017-18 season.
• After winning their first five AMCC games by shooting 50% from the field or better, La Roche has shot under 50% from the field in their last three contests and has still managed to win.
• Saturday's two-point win over PSB was the Redhawks closest margin of victory against an AMCC opponent this season. Previously, La Roche had won each of their seven conference games by 11 points or more
• After scoring 30+ in back-to-back games, Tyler Frederick has come back to earth posting 15 & 13 points respectively in his last two games. The AMCC Preseason Player of the Year still leads the conference in both scoring (20.1 PPG) and rebounding (12.0 RPG). Frederick's rebounds per game mark ranks 8th in all of D-III.
• Four Redhawks rank in the top 20 in the AMCC in points per game (Tyler Frederick: 20.1, 1st | Kennedy Smith: 18.2, 3rd | Austin Hannes: 14.2, 17th | Darius Lawrence: 14.0, T-19th).
• Against the conference, LRU averages an AMCC best 85.9 points per game while their opponents have averaged 69.3 points per game (2nd best in AMCC).
• Senior forward Luke McDonough has recorded at least one block in each of his last four games and currently ranks 5th in the conference at 1.23 blocks per game.

Franciscan (OVR: 4-8, AMCC: 3-4)

News and Notes

• Franciscan, currently 3-4 in AMCC action, ranks 8th in the conference standings
• The Barons snapped their three game losing streak with a win over Alfred St. on Saturday (1/11) at the Finnegan Fieldhouse, Franciscan's home venue, 67-57.
• After missing the first nine games of the season, 6'6" Sophomore forward Travis Lien has been on a tear in the Barons last three contests, averaging 19.3 points per game, 7.0 rebounds per game, 3.0 assists per game and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 22 of 41 (53%) from the field and 10 of 16 (.63%) from three-point range. Last season, Lien averaged just 13.5 minutes and 4.0 points per game.
• Junior guard Sean Hickey has been Franciscan's best all-around player, averaging 16.8 points per game (6th in AMCC) and a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game. Hickey had knocked down a conference-high 38 three-pointers while shooting 43% from beyond the arc.
• In conference play, the Barons have been deadly from three-point range, knocking down 61 of 139 (43%) attempts, the best 3-PT% in the AMCC.
• Against the AMCC, Francsican has allowed their opponents to shoot 47% from the field (worst in AMCC).
• On the glass, the Barons average just 33.6 rebounds per game in conference play (worst in AMCC).

Series History

• The Redhawks have won 8 straight head-to-head's against Franciscan.
• The Barons last win over La Roche was on February 18th, 2015 at the Finnegan Fieldhouse.
• La Roche is 19-3 against Franciscan dating back to the 2008-09 season.
• In the last meeting between the conference foes, Tyler Frederick scored a game-high 19 points while shooting 9 of 12 (75%) from the field and added seven rebounds and a block to the stat sheet.