BRADFORD, Pa. – La Roche men's basketball fell on the road to Pitt-Bradford on Saturday, in a double overtime thriller, 93-91.
Over the first six minutes of action, it was the Panthers who held the edge at 13-9.
La Roche began what would be a 7-0 run from 13:42-12:27 to gain a 16-13 lead.
It was still a Redhawk lead with 8:07 remaining, 20-19, but beginning at 7:49, over the next 5:48, Bradford put together a 10-2 run to jump ahead 29-22, but La Roche battled back over the final 2:01 of the half to trail just 30-29.
Out of the break, it was the Redhawks putting together a six-point, 36-30 lead with a 7-0 run the first 2:08 of the second half.
The lead continued to grow, as La Roche held a solid 52-43 lead with 10:46 remaining.
Still up 60-55 with 4:09 remaining, the Redhawks saw the lead disappear, as an 11-2 Panther run gave Bradford a 66-62 lead with 2:07 remaining.
Down three with 30 seconds left, Joe Starzynski hit a clutch three for La Roche to tie the game at 70-70 and the Redhawks made one final stop to send the game to overtime.
Bradford opened the first overtime period taking a 74-70 lead and still led by four, 79-75 with 58 seconds remaining.
This time around it was Michael Brooks cutting the deficit to two with 49 seconds left, the Starzynski again coming up clutch with a pair of free-throws with two seconds on the clock to force double overtime.
Back-to-back threes in the firs 36 seconds of the second five-minute frame opened an 85-79 lead in favor of the Panthers.
Trailing 89-82 at the 3:15 mark, La Roche began a 9-2 run at 3:01 remaining, to tie the game 91-91 with 22 seconds left, however it was Bradford with one second left, laying it in to take home the victory.
For the game, La Roche finished the evening going 31-for-72 (43.1%) from the floor and 11-for-30 (36.7%) from three. From the foul line, the Redhawks capitalized on just 18 of 31 attempts (58.1%).
On the other side, the Panthers finished 34-for-70 (48.6%) from the field, and 9-for-28 (32.1%) from deep, while going 16-for-21 (76.2%) from the foul line.
La Roche had three players in double figures, with Starzynski scoring a game-high 26 points on 9-for-15 shooting to go alongside seven rebounds.
Bryce Epps put together his first career 20-point game, as the freshman hit for 25 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists and steals.
Brooks was the third to hit the 10+ plateau, scoring 11 with five boards, three assists and two steals.
The Redhawks return home for two more contests in the non-conference prior to the holiday break, beginning with Baldwin Wallace on Wednesday, Dec. 13. Opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.