BRADFORD, Pa. - The La Roche men's basketball team overcame a 13-point halftime deficit, their largest of the season in conference play, by outscoring Pitt Bradford 56-30 in the second half to go on to win on the road, 80-67. La Roche has now won eight of their last nine matchups with the Panthers. Since Pitt Greensburg lost on the road Monday evening to D'Youville 98-82, La Roche now sits alone atop the AMCC standings with a 10-1 conference record.
Darius Lawrence finished with a game-high 19 points while shooting 6 of 12 (50%) from the field and 5 of 6 (83%) from the free-throw line. Lawrence added four rebounds, four assists a steal and a block to the box score. Darius has led the Redhawks in scoring three of their last five contests.
Tyler Frederick recorded his conference-high 10th double-double of the season, posting 14 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block.
Desmond Ross scored all of his career-high 16 points in the second half. In just 17 minutes of action, Ross shot 5 of 11 (45%) from the field and 4 of 7 (57%) from beyond the arc. Ross also added six rebounds and a block to the box score.
After shooting just 1 of 7 from the field in the first half, Austin Hannes scored 15 of his 17 points in the second while shooting 4 of 7 (57%) from the field and a perfect 4 of 4 from the free throw line.
The Redhawks were just 9 of 32 (28%) from the field and an abysmal 2 of 16 (13%) from three-point range in the second half. After some much needed offensive halftime adjustments, the Redhawks knocked down 16 of 34 (47%) attempts overall and 9 of 17 (53%) from beyond the arc. LRU has had to overcome a halftime deficit in four of their last five wins.
Final: La Roche: 80, Pitt Bradford: 67
Records: La Roche (10-6, AMCC: 10-1), Pitt Bradford (1-15, AMCC: 0-11)
How it Happened
The last place Panthers came out swinging at their home venue, starting the game on an 8-0 run while holding the Redhawks scoreless through the first three minutes and thirty-eight seconds of the contest. Tyler Frederick knocked down 1 of 2 free throws and Luke McDonough put back Frederick's miss to put La Roche on the scoreboard. Bradford answered with a 6-0 run to go up 14-3 with 14:14 to play in the first.
Over the next 10 minutes of action, La Roche continued to trail by double-digits. Then, the Redhawks managed to put together a 6-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to single digits. But the pesky Panthers would answer by forcing a couple fouls and knocking down six straight free-throws to rebuild their lead. Bradford led by 13 at the half, 37-24, La Roche's largest halftime deficit in a conference game this season.
The Redhawks turned things around out of the break and opened the second on a 15-4 run to cut the Panthers lead to just two. At the 15:01 mark, Austin Hannes tied the game for the first time with a long range triple. From that point, LRU strung together a 7-2 run to go gain their first lead of the game, up 51-45 with 12:28 to play.
Over the next seven minutes of action, Bradford would continue to hang around, eventually tying the game 62 points a piece with less than five minutes on the clock. LRU would close out on the game on an 18-5 run, knocking down 14 of 15 free throws in the closing minutes of the contest to go on to win their 10th conference game of the season.
Inside the Box Score
La Roche dominated on the glass, out-rebounding the host team 45-30.
The Redhawks attempted a season-high 33 triples, knocking down 11 of them (33%). The Redhawks have shot 24 of 65 (37%) from beyond the arc over their last two games.
Pitt Bradford committed 20 turnovers on the day, La Roche scored 22 points off those giveaways. LRU turned the ball over 11 times in the first half but only twice in the second.
Four Panthers finished in double-digit scoring figures, led by Daniel Lynch and Miles Parker who each finished with 16 points a piece.
Darius Lawrence has knocked down 32 of his last 37 (86%) free-throws.
NEXT UP: Men's basketball travels to Altoona, PA this Wednesday, January 22nd to take on the Penn St. Altoona Lions at the Alder Arena. LRU took down PSA in the conference season opener at the Kerr on November 26th, 113-84, the Redhawks highest scoring game this season. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m.