PITTSBURGH, Pa. – La Roche men's basketball captured its second consecutive AMCC Tournament Championship and third in four seasons, defeating Penn State Behrend 80-69 in Saturday night's tournament final.
In a season that saw the Redhawks sitting at 2-9 and 1-3 in the AMCC as the calendar flipped to 2024, they never waivered, winning 15 of the final 16 games to clinch the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament.
La Roche started out hot in the first half, scoring the first seven points before jumping ahead 28-12 with 7:18 remaining.
The Lions would follow scoring eight of the next 11 points to trim the deficit to 31-20, but the Redhawks would build on the lead before the half to make it 36-20 going into the locker room.
The Redhawks battled back over the rest of the half, cutting the deficit to 32-30 going into halftime.
Out of the locker room, La Roche continued to grow the lead, pushing it to 20 points in the first 3:07 and then to 22 points at 54-32 with 12:45 remaining.
With 4:45 remaining, the Redhawks still held a lead of 16 at 69-53, but over the next 3:43, Behrend trimmed the deficit to 71-64 behind an 11-2 run.
Down the final minute of play, La Roche hit their free throws and sealed the victory to the title.
For the game, La Roche shot 47.5% (28-for-59) from the floor and 10-for-27 (37%) from deep. From the charity stripe, they went 14-for-19 (73.7%).
On the other side, the Lions went on to shoot 41.9% (26-for-62) from the field, 7-for-26 (26.9%) from deep and went 10-for-19 (52.6%).
Four Redhawks went on to score in double figures, with Isaiah Thomas leading the charge.
Thomas ended the game with a double-double consisting of 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Three others all chipped in 15 points, including Dawson Summers who added eight rebounds, Bryce Epps and his three rebounds, five assists and three steals, as well as Michael Brooks who grabbed a pair of rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.
La Roche will move on to the NCAA DIII Men's Basketball Tournament and will find out their opponent and location on Monday, Feb. 26.