ERIE, Pa. – La Roche men's basketball fought an extra five minutes to keep its winning streak alive, taking down Penn State-Behrend 71-69 in an overtime thriller.
It was a fast start for the Redhawks, taking a 14-2 lead out of the gate, over the opening 6:07.
The double-digit deficit would go by the wayside, but La Roche still held the edge at 28-22 with 5:57 remaining in the opening half.
However, the final stretch of play in the half belonged to the Lions, who outscored the Redhawks 11-4 to take a 33-32 lead into the locker room.
Out of the break, La Roche used a 4-0 spurt to regain the lead. Once again though, another Behrend run followed, as the Lions scored 10 straight when trailing 39-37 to take an eight-point, 47-39 lead.
The Redhawks would keep battling back to be as close as three, but Behrend again held a now nine-point, 59-50 lead with 5:56 to go.
La Roche finally caught all the way back up, using a 9-0 run to tie the game 59-59 and a 12-2 overall run to lead 62-61.
The final 2:35 saw only two buckets as the Lions took a 64-62 lead with a three and the final bucket came by the Redhawks with 1:32 left to tie the game and send it to overtime.
In the overtime period, the defenses shined as it was just 7-5 in the period with La Roche hitting a pair of two's and one three to seal the win, while Behrend hitting two shots and a free-throw.
For the game, the Redhawks finished the night going 28-for-61 (45.9%) from the floor and 7-for-18 (38.9%) from three. From the foul line, they capitalized on eight of 14 attempts (57.1%).
On the other side, the Lions finished 26-for-62 (41.9%) from the field, 5-for-30 (16.7%) from deep, while going 12-for-13 (92.3%) from the foul line.
La Roche saw three players end the night in double figures, with Isaiah Thomas leading the way.
Thomas ended the night with 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the floor to go with three rebounds.
Bryce Epps chipped in 17 points and three rebounds of his own, while Joe Starzynski netted 16 points and five rebounds.
The Redhawks hit the midway point of their three-game road trip with a matchup on Saturday, Feb. 3 against Hilbert. Opening tip is set for 4 p.m.