ALFRED, N.Y. - La Roche men's basketball extended their win streak to six games Wednesday night after taking down the Alfred St. Pioneers, 75-62. The Redhawks, now 7-0 in AMCC action, have won 27 consecutive conference regular season games dating back to 2017. La Roche has defeated their opponents by 10 or more points in all six games of their current win streak.
After being tied with the Pioneers halfway through the first, LRU put together a 16-0 run to pull away from the host team and never looked back. The Redhawks were able to maintain a double-digit lead for a majority of the rest of the game, dipping below the mark for only a minute and 45 seconds at the start of the second half.
Senior guard Darius Lawrence (Ambridge, PA/Ambridge) led all scorers with 18 points while shooting 6 of 9 (67%) from the field and 1 of 2 (50%) from three-point range. It is the first game this season Lawrence has led the Redhawks in points. The veteran guard added 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.
Tyler Frederick, the USBWA National Player of the Week, recorded his fifth straight double-double posting 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Final Score: La Roche: 75, Alfred St: 62
Records: La Roche (7-5, AMCC: 7-0), Alfred St. (4-8, AMCC: 2-5)
How it Happened
Through the first 10 minutes of the contest, the score was even at 15 points a piece. Then, the Redhawks erupted for a 16-2 run to pull ahead 31-17 with 4:03 left to play in the first half.
La Roche maintained their lead heading into halftime ahead 40-28. The Redhawks have led at the half in all but one AMCC game this season. The Redhawks shot 55% from the field through 20 minutes of action.
Alfred St managed to cut the lead to single digits after knocking down back-to-back buckets with 16:40 left to play in the second. The Pioneers continued to hang around halfway through the second before Luke McDonough posted back-to-back offensive put backs to give La Roche a 14 point lead, their largest of the half.
The black and red maintained that lead throughout the remainder of the contest and would go on to win by 13 points.
Inside the Box Score
The Redhawks shot lights out in the first half, shooting 16 of 29 (55%) from the field and 5 of 12 (41%) from three-point range. The second half was a different story, La Roche shot 11 of 31 (36%) from the field and 2 of 11 (18%) from three-point range.
After shooting 5 of 8 from the field and putting up 12 points in the first half, Tyler Frederick was a quiet 1 of 6 from the field and only scored three points in the second half of today's contest.
Austin Hannes and Lawrence combined for 33 points while shooting 11 of 16 (69%) from the field.
La Roche limited their mistakes, committing only nine turnovers, tied for their season low.
The Pioneers were limited to just eight field goals in the first half of today's contest, but knocked down an efficient 15 of 28 (54%) shots in the second. Josh Reding and Ryan Gentile were the only Pioneers to finish in double-digit figures (Reding: 13, Gentile: 10).
NEXT UP: Men's basketball continues road play this Saturday, January 11th in the AMCC Game of the Week against Penn St. Behrend . The last time the two teams faced was in the AMCC Tournament Championship last season (the Lions won a tight battle, 67-65). Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.