Pittsburgh, PA - Tonight the La Roche Redhawks (0-3)took on the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets (2-0).
Starting for La Roche are the usual starters with Devon Darrell, Joe Pipilo, Isaiah Thomas, Desmond Ross, and Kaydn Hannah. The head coach for the Redhawks is Hermie Carmichael.
Baldwin Wallace started Cristian Pfeiffer, Jake Snyder, Anthony Mazzeo, Shane Zalba and Drew Wennes. Coaching the Yellow Jackets is head coach Tom Heil.
First Half
The first play of the game the Redhawks came out strong. They quickly gained a 4-0 lead on the Yellow Jackets. Isaiah Thomas and Devon Darrell both sank layups.
This lead however didn't last long. A turnover from Kadyn Hannah and two made layups later (Shane Zalba, and Christian Pfeiffer) had the score back and tied (4-4). Zalba added another two point bucket for BWU to take the lead (4-6).
This is where the battle began for LRU.
Dominic Elliot (LRU) entered the game and helped his team by hitting a three point shot assisted by Joe Pipilo.
The very next possession, Elliot got a defensive rebound which he quickly tossed down the court to teammate, Devon Darrell, who was able to draw a foul from Mazzeo and went to the line for two. Darrell hit both (9-6, La Roche).
Baldwin Wallace responded by drawing a foul of their own out of La Roche's Isaiah Thomas. Pfeiffer went to the line. He hit one but missed the second. Drew Wennes had the offensive rebound and put it back in for a made tip-in basket, tying the game once again (9-9).
BWU was the first to break the tie. Pfeiffer was the first one on the board with another layup, he was followed by Wennes who went to the line and hit two free throws.
After a turnover by Elliot, and a foul by Pipilo, Wennes goes to the line again. Also going two for two in this round of free throws. The score was now 18-9, in favor of the Yellow Jackets.
Joe Starzynski was able to get the Redhawks back in the book with a jump shot (18-11).
Unfortunately, the breath of relief went away as Ashton Price made a three point shot, and Luke Driscoll hit a two point bucket. La Roche was now down 23-11 with 12:55 on the clock in the first half.
For LRU Desmond Ross put them back in the game with a layup, and Hannah added a jump shot (25-15, BWU).
Both teams went scoreless for almost two minutes. Hannah (LRU) was the first to end the drought. He added a made free throw, and Darrell hopped on his train and scored a layup (25-18, BWU).
Mazzeo for Baldwin Wallace was the first for the Yellow Jackets back in the book. He himself earned himself a spot back on the free throw line. He hit both shots.
As the minutes dwindled down to five left in the second half, BWU once again found themselves back on the free throw line, this time in the form of Pfeiffer. He missed one, made one. His teammate Jake Snyder quickly made up for it however, with a layup.
Joe Pipilo answered with a layup of his own, bringing the score to 31-20, Redhawks down by 11. Coach Carmichael took a minute to capitalize on this made basket and call a thirty second timeout.
The timeout worked in La Roche's favor and Joe Starzynski found himself on the free throw line. He went one for two on the shots.
To end the first half for LRU, Pipilo added a three point bucket, and Elliot added a layup.
For BWU, Lian Levesque (two free throws), Snyder (three point shot), and Rob Watson III (layup) all contributed to the end of the half score of 39-28, in favor of the Yellow Jackets.
Second Half
La Roche started the same five that started the game, with the exception of Michael Brooks who went in place of Darrell.
Baldwin Wallace also started the same five players who began the first half.
The Yellow Jackets are the first to score out of the half, Wennes hits a three-point field goal during the first possession out of the break (42-28, BWU). Zalba, also for the Yellow Jackets, follows and hits a three point shot of his own, assisted by Snyder.
Michael Brooks put La Roche on the board in the second half with a made jump shot, assisted by Ross.
Ths doesn't stay unanswered for long however as Wennes (BWU) follows with a layup, increasing the gap between the two teams.
Shortly after, Mazzeo goes to the line for the Yellow Jackets and hits both of his second chance shots (49-30).
Thomas (LRU) gets to add in a layup of his own assisted by Hannah (49-32, BWU).
Unfortunately for the Redhawks, they were wounded during the first half when BWU went on their scoring run, and they just can't seem to recover from.
The closest that La Roche got to closing the gap was at the seven minute mark of the second half. Pipilo had just made both of his free throws and had then put the score 67-58, still in favor of the Yellow Jackets, but it seemed as if there was a chance at closing the gap.
Regrettably, this was the closest the Redhawks got to closing the gap.The final score of the game was 85-69, in favor of the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets.
Final Thoughts
Leading the team for the Yellow Jackets was Jake Snyder, who accumulated 14 points, two rebounds and two assists.
Shortly after him was his teammate Shane Zalba. Zalba finished the contest with 13 points, four assists, and three steals.
Christian Pfeiffer and Ashton Price both tied for rebound leader with eight rebounds each.
For La Roche the leading scorer was Joe Pipilo with 17 points. He also had five rebounds, and two assists.
He was followed by Isiah Thomas who had 13 points, and five rebounds.
Kaydn Hannah led the team in rebounding with nine, and he also contributed two steals.
The Redhawks play this weekend, November 19, and 20 at the Great Lakes Invitational. Their first game is at 1:00 PM against Wilmington (Ohio). Tune into the video link in their schedule to tune in.
The next home game will be December 8, 2021 against Pitt-Greensburg, at 7:30 PM.