SPRINGFIELD, Oh. - La Roche men's basketball headed into nationally ranked Wittenberg (#9) as underdogs, and despite falling to the Tigers 66-83, the Redhawks proved they can compete with the best of them. LRU jumped out to an early 14-6 lead Friday night less than five minutes into the game, but that would prove to be their largest. Less than 10 minutes later, Wittenberg claimed the lead and never looked back. LRU would hang around for a majority of the contest, but never pulled within one possession of the Tigers after their early run.
Senior G Darius Lawrence led La Roche in scoring for the fourth straight game. Lawrence finished with 19 points, three rebounds, two assists and a block. The AMCC All-Second team member scored 10 or more points in 25 of 27 games this season.
Junior F and AMCC Player of the Year, Tyler Frederick, picked up his 17th double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Junior G Austin Hannes scored all 13 of his points in the first half. In the first twenty minutes of game play, Hannes shot a near perfect 6 of 7 from the field. In the second he went 0 of 4.
Senior G Kennedy Smith contributed 11 points, four rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. Smith has shown up on every part of the box score night in and night out this season.
Final: La Roche 66, Wittenberg 83
Records: La Roche (21-7), Wittenberg (27-2)
How it Happened
Austin Hannes hit the first two shots of today's contest as the Redhawks took a quick 4-2 lead. Then, back to back jumpers from Tyler Frederick and Darius Lawrence put LRU up 9-2 just over two minutes into the game. Wittenberg responded by proving why they are ranked the number nine team in the country and slowly but surely gained the lead.
Up 27-26 with 7:07 to play in the first, Witt erupted for a 16-8 run. Every time La Roche would hit a big shot, the Tigers had an answer. The hosts lead 43-35 at the break, still well within striking distance of the pesky Redhawks who were determined to pull of the upset.
LRU's determination carried into the second half as they continued to hang around, trailing just 68-59 with 5:29 to play. Over the next five minutes, due mostly to fouls, Wittenberg would outscore La Roche 15-7 to go on to win by 17.
Inside the Box Score
La Roche's bench was outscored 22-4, all four points coming from Senior Darrell Barron.
LRU scored 34 of their 66 points inside the paint and out-rebounded Witt, 30-28.
The Redhawks shot just 6 of 21 (28%) from long range, their worst shooting percentage from deep in eight games.
La Roche especially struggled from the free throw line, where they shot just 10 of 20 (50%). Heading into tonight's game LRU had shot 76% (70-92) from the free throw line over their last six games, averaging 11.6 FT per game during that span.
Luke McDonough provided six points, four rebounds and a game-high three blocks.
