#1 La Roche University and #2 Penn State Behrend each earned victories in the AMCC Men's Basketball Semifinals to advance to the conference championship game slated for Saturday at 5:00pm at La Roche.
La Roche 81, Pitt-Greensburg 76
Top seed La Roche defeated #4 Pitt-Greensburg 81-76 Friday evening, punching their ticket to the AMCC men's basketball championhip game. The La Roche men's basketball team built a 23-point lead in the second half after La Roche guard Joe Starzynski make three shots from behind the arc to start he second half, but the Bobcats fought back to make it a one possession game going into the final seconds.
In the opening 1:10, the Redhawks fell behind 5-0, but quickly responded with a 12-2 run to grab a 12-7 lead with 15:23 remaining in the half. Over the next couple minutes, the score sat at 14-11 in favor of La Roche, who then popped off on the offensive end, using a 13-2 run to open a 27-14 lead with 7:36 to go. With 3:15 remaining in the opening half, the Bobcats cut the deficit to 33-26, but the Redhawks would score the final five points of the opening 20 minutes to take a 38-26 lead into the break.
Out of the locker room, La Roche kept the fire rolling, behind three consecutive three-pointers by Starzynski and a run of 14-3 in the first 3:01 to open a 52-29 lead. Despite the deficit, the Bobcats never backed down, using the next 13 minutes to trim a large deficit down to single digits with 3:15 remaining. Next thing you could see, was Pitt-Greensburg down 77-74 with 1:45 remaining. La Roche with 11 seconds left still had a 79-76 lead, but after the made free-throw, the ensuing inbound pass was thrown away by the Bobcats, allowing the Redhawks to seal the victory.
Starzynski put together a 24-point performance, alongside nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and four blocks. Bryce Epps followed with 15 points and five rebounds, while Frank Stumpo scored 11 off the bench behind a trio of triples. Micah Jones led Pitt-Greensburg with 24 points, while Trent Rozich added 17 and 10 rebounds.
Penn State Behrend 73, Alfred State 65
The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team took down Alfred State, 73-65, in the AMCC Semifinals Friday night. Alfred State jumped out to a fast start, taking a 14-6 lead in the first five minutes. The Lions would go on a run of their own, grabbing their first lead (23-21) with 8:45 remaining in the first half. The Pioneers controlled a 42-36 advantage heading into halftime. Both teams went back-and-forth in the second half with neither squad holding more than a five-point lead in the first eight minutes of the second half. A Tommy DiRienzo three-point play gave Behrend a six-point advantage (67-61) with three minutes remaining; however, Alfred State would not go away cutting its deficit to only two (67-65) with 1:43 on the clock. A pair of made layups from DiRienzo and Mason Blankenberg along with a few defensive stops sealed the Lions' victory and earned them a chance to play for an AMCC Championship tomorrow evening.
DiRienzo recorded his fifth double-double of the season, finishing with a game-high 24 points and tying his career-high in rebounds with 14. Matthew McDonough (18 points) and Blankenberg (10 points) also tallied double-figures for the Lions.
The Pioneers were led by Cody Schneider's 19 points and 14 rebounds. Dylan Perry (13 points) and Paris Jamison (12 points) also delivered double-figures for Alfred State.
La Roche and Behrend will play for the AMCC Championship tomorrow at 5 p.m. Behrend is looking to win its seventh conference title in program history and first since 2018-19. La Roche, the defending AMCC champion, is looking for back-to-back titles and their sixth title overall.