Top-seeded La Roche University cruised to an 84-61 victory over #2 Penn State Altoona to claim their fifth overall AMCC Men's Basketball Title. The championship marks the second the Redhawks have won in the past three seasons.
Both teams started out hot, as the game was back-and-forth for the first ten minutes. Penn State Altoona scored the first two points of the game on a Saivon Word layup and quickly built on their lead to make it 9-4. La Roche took their first lead of the game at the 15:25 mark of the first half when Joe Pipilo connected from long range to make it 12-11. A Word dunk at 13:14 gave the Lions an 18-14 lead, which would be their last lead of the game. La Roche then kicked it into high gear from beyond the arc, knocking down eight three pointers over the next 10 minutes, as the Redhawks went on a 27-8 run over that timespan. Devon Darrell ignited his team with four of those three-pointers. La Roche kept a comfortable lead through the end of the half, taking a 47-31 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Altoona started to chip away in the second half and came back within 10 at the 15:37 mark, making the score 53-43. But that was as close as the Lions would get on the day. The Redhawks continued to pour it on with their fast-paced play and hot shooting from three, taking an 18-point advantage with just under 10 minutes to play, cruising to a 84-61 victory and their fifth conference title.
Darrell led all scorers with 27 points, while also adding eight rebounds and four assists. Grayson added 14 points and three rebounds. Joe Pipilo narrowly missed the double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Isaiah Thomas contributed 10 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Word led the way for Altoona, recording 25 points and four rebounds, while PJ Charles added 10 points and eight rebounds.
La Roche will earn the conference's automatic bid to the national tournament. Pairings will be announced on Monday.
All-Tournament Team
Devon Darrell, La Roche
Jordan Grayson, La Roche
Saivon Word, Penn State Altoona
PJ Charles, Penn State Altoona
Nathan Schneider, Pitt-Bradford
Tom DiRienzo, Penn State Behrend
Quran Briggs, Hilbert College
Reggie Priah, Pitt-Greensburg