La Roche Ends AMCC Title Hope for Men's Basketball

BUFFALO, NY. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team fell to La Roche Saturday afternoon in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) semifinals, 75-50.

Andy Niland (Fairview, PA/Fairview) and Mike Fischer (Wexford, PA/North Allegheny) each scored 10 points in the loss to lead the Lions (19-7) in scoring. Niland was just 2-for-10 from the floor but went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Fischer shot 66.7 percent (4-for-6) and drained two three's.

After Behrend jumped out to 6-2 lead to start the game, the Redhawks (20-7) went on a 19-4 run to build an 11-point lead with 12 minutes left in the first. La Roche kept the pressure on the Lions for the remainder of the half. They took an eight-point lead into the break, leading Behrend 39-31.

The Redhawks continued to build on their first half lead, keeping the Lions off the board for the first four minutes of the second half. Over that time, La Roche built a 47-33 advantage.

From that point on, the Redhawks held a double-digit lead and prevented Behrend from making any type of run to get them back into the game.

The Lions were outscored in the final 20 minutes by a 35-19 margin.

La Roche was led by Ray Quan Phifer who scored a game-high 20 points. He went 9-for-14 from the floor and added four boards.

Behrend shot a season-low 32.0 percent from the field compared to the Redhawks impressive 63.0 percent. The Lions attempted 27 three's converting only four, also a season-low (14.8%)

La Roche beat Behrend on the boards, pulling down 34 rebounds compared to the Lions 24.