McCANDLESS, Pa. - La Roche men's basketball defeated Penn St. Altoona at the Kerr Friday afternoon in the AMCC semi-final 87-76 to advance to their fourth straight title game. After trailing by seven points with less than six minutes to go in the first, the Redhawks put together an 18-8 run to take a 43-40 lead heading into halftime. The Lions got close on numerous occasions in the second, but La Roche maintained the lead for the entirety of the half, outscoring the visitors 44-36 in the second to earn their fourth straight 20 win season.
Darius Lawrence scored a career-high 21 points while shooting 7 of 13 (54%) from the field and perfect 6 of 6 at the free throw line. Lawrence added six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Tyler Frederick collected his 16th double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Frederick shot 70% (7-10) from the field and 2 of 3 from deep. He added three assist and two steals.
Austin Hannes scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half and shot 50% (5-10) from the floor while also contributing four assists and two rebounds.
In just 19 minutes off the bench, Darrell Barron scored a season-high 10 points, shooting 4 of 7 (57%) and added four rebounds.
As a unit, LRU shot 50.8% (32-63) from the field in the contest. La Roche has shot over 50% in 11 games this season, they haven't lost a single one.
Final: La Roche: 87, Penn St. Altoona: 76
Records: La Roche (20-6), Penn St. Altoona (16-11)
How it Happened
The conference foes went bucket for bucket throughout the first ten minutes of the contest as the lead changed six times during that span. The Lions then produced a 13-7 run to take their largest lead of the game, up 32-25 with 5:41 to play. Austin Hannes kept LRU in it as he would score three of the teams next four field goals.
The Redhawks went on an 18-8 run to end the half capped off by a one handed alley-oop from Kennedy Smith to Tyler Frederick. After 11 minutes of trailing Penn St. Altoona, La Roche ended the first ahead 43-40.
LRU opened the second half with back-to-back layups from Kennedy Smith and Darius Lawrence to build their lead to seven. At the 10:48 mark, a Lions hit a 3-PT to cut the deficit to just two points.
The Redhawks responded by hitting three of their next four shots, but Altoona would not go away, they made it a two point game once again. With 6:53 to go, La Roche led 68-66. Then, LRU put together a 13-5 run to pull away by ten and never looked back. They would go on to win 87-76.
Inside the Box Score
La Roche out-rebounded Penn St. Altoona 42-26, the Redhawks first 40+ rebound performance in five games.
Kennedy Smith appeared all over the stat sheet, posting eight points, seven rebounds and set game-highs with six assist and four steals.
The red and white shot 10 of 26 (38.5%) from three point range. The Redhawks have hit ten or more three in six straight contests.
The Redhawks posted 19 assists on 32 field goals. LRU has a combined 40 assists over their last two games.
Joe Pipilo shot 2 of 4 from deep and finished with eight points. Pipilo has drained multiple three's in six of his last seven games, shooting 50% or better from long range in all those performances.
Luke McDonough provided six points, four rebounds, an assist and the teams only block.
La Roche recorded 10 steals in the contest and scored 16 points off turnovers, marking just the fourth time this season LRU has finished in double-digits in the steals column.
Penn St. Altoona's Jack Kusters went-off for a career-high 29 points, shooting 11-20 from the field and 5-11 from deep.
NEXT UP: The Redhawks will face-off against Penn St. Behrend for the third straight year tomorrow afternoon, February 29th in the AMCC Tournament Championship. The teams have split the last two titles. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m. at the Kerr Fitness Center on La Roche's campus.