PITTSBURGH, Pa. – La Roche men's basketball closed out home play of the 2023-24 regular season, doing so by defeating Carlow 76-64, clinching home court advantage of the AMCC Tournament Final Four and an AMCC regular season championship.
It was all defense over the opening 6:57 of play, as the score stood at a stalemate, 9-9.
At 12:33 to go in the first half, the Redhawks began what would be a 15-4 run to take a 24-13 lead with 9:02 on the clock and held that lead until 6:26 was remaining in the opening half.
The Celtics would fight back to cut the deficit to 30-25 with 1:28 left on the clock, but La Roche held steady and took a 34-25 lead into the locker room.
Out of the break, the Redhawks kept holding onto the lead, but eventually saw it slip to 42-40 with 15:58 remaining.
As the clock read 10:40 to go, La Roche saw the lead slip away momentarily, as Carlow moved past the Redhawks to lead 50-49.
The lead lasted just 36 seconds as a pair of free-throws put La Roche ahead, followed by a three-pointer to up the lead back to four, 54-50, with 8:22 remaining.
The Celtics hung around, staying within at least four points over the next 3:12, until the Redhawks put together an 8-2 run from 5:10 to go until the 3:26 mark to build a 68-58 lead.
From there, the game never came within eight points, La Roche sealed the victory, clinching the Redhawks back-to-back AMCC regular season championships.
For the game, La Roche finished going 26-for-56 (46.4%) from the floor and 7-for-24 (29.1%) from three. From the foul line, they capitalized on 17 of 19 attempts (89.5%).
On the other side, Carlow finished 24-for-54 (44.4%) from the field, 5-for-14 (35.7%) from deep, while going 11-for-17 (64.7%) from the foul line.
The Redhawks had three players end the night in double figures with a pair matching for the team high.
Dominic Elliott was exceptional from the floor, scoring 16 points on 5-for-6 shooting and 6-for-6 from the foul line to go alongside four rebounds.
Joe Starzynski matched Elliott with 16 points of his own, adding seven rebounds and a pair of assists.
Off the bench, Jerique Walker hit for 12 points to round out the double-digit scoring efforts.
La Roche concludes the 2023-24 regular season on the road against Penn State-Altoona on Saturday, Feb. 17. Opening tip is set for 4 p.m.