#1 LA ROCHE, #2 PENN STATE ALTOONA ADVANCE TO AMCC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

#1 La Roche University and #2 Penn State Altoona each earned wins in the AMCC Semifinals on Friday afternoon to advance to the AMCC Men's Basketball Championship game set for Saturday at 1:00pm at La Roche. Top-seeded La Roche defeated #5 Penn State Behrend 63-55, while Penn State Altoona earned the 109-96 victory over #6 Pitt-Bradford.

La Roche 63, Penn State Behrend 55
La Roche University clung to a close lead throughout most of the game, where the Redawks outscored the Lions by four points in each half. 
La Roche senior guard Devon Darrell went 12-for-20 from the field and 7-for-11 from the charity stripe for 31 points, while also chipping in with eight rebounds and two assists. Jordan Grayson added 11 points, four steals and two blocks for the Redhawks, including three from long range. With a two-point lead with 28 seconds to play, the Redhawks went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line to punch their ticket into the AMCC final game. The Lions trailed by nine at most and led by two at the 15:15 mark of the second half. Behrend freshman guard Matt McDonough hit a three-pointer to give Behrend a 38-36 lead. La Roche made the next two baskets to never trailed again. The Redhawks were 12-for-13 from the free-throw line and held a 21-10 advantage in rebounds in the second half. McDonough ended with a team-best 15 points for the Lions. 


Penn State Altoona 109, Pitt-Bradford 96
Pitt-Bradford scored the first two points of the game on a Jeremy Rodriguez layup, but that was the only lead the Panthers would have the entire game. Penn State Altoona went up by as much as 18 points in the first half on a Robbie Hicks three-pointer with 3:03 to play in the half. However, Pitt-Bradford continued to fight back, closing in within 10 points (50-40) at the halftime break. The Lions came out hot in the second half, taking a quick 70-48 lead less than five minutes in, which included two three's and layup from Mason Bush and two dunks from Andruw Harman. The Lions stayed in control for the remainder of the game, cruising to a 109-96 victory and advancing to the AMCC Championship game. Altoona had five players score in double figures, led by Saivon Word and Robbie Hicks who scored 20 points a piece. Word narrowly missed the triple-double, as he also recorded 11 assists and eight rebounds. PJ Charles added 15 points and 14 rebounds for the double-double, while Dwayne Jones added 14 points and Harman with 12. Nathan Schneider led the Panthers with 28 points and eight rebounds.

#1 La Roche and #2 Penn State Behrend will square off on Saturday at 1:00pm for the AMCC Championship and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.