PITTSBURGH, PA - Tonight the No. 3 seed La Roche Redhawks men's basketball team upset the No. 2 seed, the Penn State-Altoona Lions. 

In the beginning, the Redhawks knew they were in for a battle. They were on neutral ground at Penn State-Behrend, but the duel was going to be just as strategic. 

It started with a junior, Devon Darrell going off. Darrell at the end of the first half had 20 points, meaning there were only 18 points that didn't belong to the guard. In the end, Darrell shot 52.6 percent from the field, and 40 percent from the three point arc for a total of 24 points. He also led the team in assists with seven. 

Still, no one had expected the Redhawks to be up by five points when the buzzer signifying the end of the first period sounded. La Roche went 0-2 with Altoona this season (88-72 & 96-87) losing by nine plus points each time. LRU didn't let those numbers mean anything though, this was the post season and what happened during the regular season didn't matter. Where that shone through was the Redhawk defense. 

The team forced the Lions into 17 turnovers. From these turnovers, 24 points in scoring opportunities were able to be capitalized on, and 12 points from fast breaks.
Joe Pipilo was the one who lit up the board with 19 points in the second half; taking some weight off Darrell. 

Pipilo completed six three point shots for a shooting percentage of 66.6 percent from three point range and inside the paint. 

Even with their five point lead the Redhawks seemed to never be able to be content with their lead. Afterall, this game had seven lead changes, and one tie. 

Jordan Grayson helped put some breathing room between the team and the Lions as he himself completed 16 points. 

In the end, La Roche only let Penn State-Altoona have the lead for a total of 7 minutes and 20 seconds; LRU was in possession of the lead for 31 minutes and 12 seconds. 

The final Redhawk to achieve double digits tonight was Kadyn Hannah with 10. 

When Head Coach Hermie Carmichael was asked what he had to say about his team upsetting the No. two seed, he had this to say: "We're playing with a ton of confidence right now. I'm proud of this group for coming together." 

The unsung hero of tonight is Isaiah Thomas who captured 10 rebounds for the Redhawks. 

Tomorrow, La Roche will take on the No. 4 seed (who upset No.1 Penn State-Behrend) at 

3:00 PM in the duel for the AMCC Championship, and a bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. Save the below links for tomorrow, you don't want to miss a second of it!

Video: https://t.co/eDSJT9W4xG

Live Stats: https://t.co/huGkXWmOmg