McCANDLESS, Pa. - La Roche men's basketball hosts conference rival Penn St. Behrend Saturday, February 8th at the Kerr Fitness Center. Darius Lawrence propelled the Redhawks to a 57-55 victory earlier this season at the Lions den by scoring the go-ahead bucket with 5.3 seconds remaining. Tip-off for tomorrow's contest is set for 2:00 p.m.

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La Roche (OVR: 14-6, AMCC: 14-1)

Last Time Out: The Redhawks escaped D'Youville last Saturday (2/1) with an 82-75 road win. The Spartans, who rank second to last in the conference standings, led by as many as six points in the first before La Roche produced a 15-6 at the end of the half to head into a halftime ahead 38-32. The Redhawks maintained their advantage throughout the second but never lead by more than ten points. D'Youville made it a four-point with a minute remaining but that's as close as they got.  LRU has won nine straight games against DYC. Tyler Frederick recorded a double-double with a team-high 17 points and 17 rebounds. Darius Lawrence (14), Austin Hannes (13) and Kennedy Smith (11) all finished in double-digit figures.

News and Notes

• Darius Lawrence won his 79th collegiate game at D'Youville last Saturday, placing him first in career wins in program history. Lawrence has played in 101 games at La Roche and has won at least 20 games in each of his first three seasons (2016: 20, 2017: 21, 2018: 24). Head Coach Hermie Carmichael said on twitter of Lawrence, "Pound for pound no one tougher...not sure we have ever had someone excel at their role for their entire career more than Darius". This season, Darius has had career-high's in minutes per game (30.8), points per game (14.4), assists per game (2.9), rebounds per game (3.1) and steals per game (1.2). He has started in 19 of LRU's 20 games thus far.
• With a 14-1 record in conference play this season, La Roche holds a 1.5 game advantage over Pitt Greensburg (13-3) for the first spot in the AMCC standings.
• The Redhawks have not lost a regular season home game since December 6th, 2017. Since then, La Roche is an incredible 29-0 at the Kerr.
• LRU's last conference home loss is even further back on February 8th, 2017 when Penn St. Behrend defeated the Redhawks, 63-59. Since then, La Roche is 26-0 against the AMCC at the Kerr.
• Tyler Frederick leads the conference in scoring (18.6 PPG) and rebounding (11.8 RPG). Frederick's rebounds per game mark ranks 9th in D-III. He also ranks first in the conference and tied for 9th in D-III in double-doubles with 12.
• Kennedy Smith has dished out at least four assists in nine of his last twelve games. He leads the Redhawks with 3.1 assists per game this season.
• Austin Hannes has hit at least one three-pointer in 35 straight games. Hannes has averaged 2.6 triples per game this season (3rd most in AMCC).
• Luke McDonough has produced nine blocks in his last three games. This season, he has averaged 1.4 blocks per game (6th in AMCC).
• In AMCC action, La Roche ranks first in points per game (83.7) and second in field goal percentage (47.4%).
• The Redhawks have turned the ball over an average of 11.5 times per game in conference play (Best in AMCC).
• Head Coach Hermie Carmichael is just one win away from earning his 100th career AMCC victory. Coach Carmichael has a career record of 99-42 (.702) in conference play at La Roche.

Penn St. Behrend (OVR: 14-6, AMCC: 11-4)

News and Notes

• With an 11-4 conference record, the Lions currently rank third in the conference standings, holding a two-game lead over Penn St. Altoona.
• Penn St. Behrend has won four of their last five games.
• Seven of Behrend's 15 games this season have been decided by five points or less; The Lions are 3-4 in those contests.
• 6'3 Junior Kenny Fukon leads the Lions in scoring and rebounding, averaging 16.1 points (5th in AMCC) and 6.9 rebounds per game this season.
• The Lions have held conference opponents to an average of 62.1 points per game this season (Best in AMCC) but have scored just 71.0 points per game in conference play (8th in AMCC).
• PSB averages 15.3 assists per game (2nd best in AMCC) and 5.7 blocks per game (2nd best in AMCC) in conference games.
• On the glass this season, Penn St. Behrend has grabbed 33.5 rebounds per game (2nd worst in AMCC).

Series History

• La Roche defeated Penn St. Behrend at their home venue on January 11th, 57-55, the Redhawks lowest point total this season.
• Last time the Lions were at the Kerr was last season's AMCC Championship game which PSB won, 67-65.
• The Redhawks are 9-9 against the Lions under Head Coach Hermie Carmichael.