LA ROCHE WINS HARD-FOUGHT BATTLE TO CLAIM THIRD AMCC MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

The La Roche College Redhawks claimed a 77-74 victory over the Penn State Behrend Lions on Sunday afternoon to earn their third AMCC men's basketball title, and their first since the 2010-11 season.

The atmosphere in the Kerr Fitness Center at La Roche College was rocking from start as the Redhawks and Lions took the floor in front of a packed house. And the players on the floor didn't disappoint. It was a barn-burner from the beginning, as Behrend scored first, but La Roche buried a three less than twenty seconds later, and the game stayed tight for the entire half. The Lions owned the largest lead of the half when junior guard Andy Niland drained a three with 11:25 on the clock to make the score 19-13 and give his team a six point advantage. La Roche quickly went on an 8-0 run of their own, capped by a Zach Gould three-pointer, to take a 21-19 lead with 9:44 to go in the first half. The final 10 minutes of the first half mirrored the first 10 minutes and the teams went into the locker room with La Roche ahead 39-35.

Redhawk junior guard Zach Gould was on fire going 5-6 from the field, and 4-for-4 from long range, while also adding two free throws for 16 points in the first half. Behrend forward Dan Wanker led the Lions in the first half with 13 points and five rebounds.

Both teams came out of the locker rooms just as hot, with each exchanging baskets and several lead changes over the next several minutes. The game stayed tight and was tied at 49 with 12:50 to play. La Roche went on a 6-0 run with a Trell Thomas jumper and two layups by Ryan Norkus to take the 55-49 advantage. A Darrell Barron layup at the 7:25 mark gave the Redhawks a seven point 63-56 lead. But a Mike Fischer layup three minutes later capped a Behrend run that brought the Lions within a point, 63-62.  The Redawks stretched the lead out to six points with 3:14 to play, but the Lions wouldn't go away and continued to claw back. The Redhawk lead stayed within five points for the final three minutes until a Thomas free throw with :35 on the clock gave La Roche a six point (74-68) lead. Two big three pointers by Wanker and Niland in the final 20 seconds kept the Lions in the game, but they could never get closer than three points in the closing seconds. 

Gould recorded a game-high 26 points, while Thomas and Ray Quan Phifer added 15 and 13, respectively. Forward Dion Etheridge led the Redhawks with eight rebounds.

Behrend got a team-high 22 points from Niland, with Wanker adding 21 points and eight boards.

La Roche will receive the AMCC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament. Pairings will be announced Monday.

Men's Basketball All-Tournament Team
Zach Gould, La Roche College
Trell Thomas, La Roche College
Justin Gorny, Penn State Behrend
Andy Niland, Penn State Behrend
Mike Hollenbeck, Medaille College
Masia Phillips, Hilbert College
Ishmeal Nance, Penn State Altoona
Tommy Pisula, Mount Aloysius College