Late Second Half Push Dooms Lions at La Roche

Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team was unable to get past La Roche, 77-72, Wednesday night.

Score: La Roche 77, Penn State Behrend 72
Records: La Roche (9-12, 6-6 AMCC), Penn State Behrend (11-10­, 6-6 AMCC)

Key Moments:

* The first 10 minutes of Wednesday's contest was back-and-forth with neither team able to go up by more than three points
* A James Wesling (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) three-pointer and Isaac DeGregorio (Allison Park, PA/North Catholic) layup pushed Behrend's lead to six (21-15) with 8:35 left in the first half
* However, two straight baskets by La Roche in the next 30 seconds made it a one-point game (21-20) to force a timeout
* Behrend would take a two-point advantage into the locker (30-28) at halftime
* Three Lions notched six first half points, while Isaiah Thomas and Bryce Epps each had seven points for the Redhawks
* Most of the second half was the same as the first with both teams trading the lead and neither squad able to take more than a five-point lead
* With 6:47 remaining, a David Sledge three-pointer would put La Roche ahead by four (56-52) and La Roche would never look back
* Behrend came within one in the final five minutes, but weren't able to tie the game or grab the lead once again
* The Redhawks sealed their sixth conference win with an Epps layup with 23 second left in the contest
* Senior Tommy DiRienzo (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) scored a game-high 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field
* DiRienzo sits six points away from passing James Curren's (2000-04) 1,726 career points for second on the program's all-time scoring list
* Matthew McDonough (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) was the other Lion to finish in double-figures with 16 points. He is now six points away from 1,000 career points
* Nate Edwards (Girard, PA/Girard) and Dolan Waldo (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) each chipped nine points, while Edwards tied his career-high with five rebounds
* Off the bench, Sam Petrarca (Peters Township, PA/Peters Township) tallied nine points and Michael Sopko (New Castle, PA/Neshannock) pulled down a game-high seven rebounds
* Epps led the La Roche with 17 points and seven rebounds. Thomas recorded 13 points, while Major Rainey registered 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench
* All-in-all, most of the final team stats were close with Behrend edging the Redhawks in field-goal percentage (50 percent-49.1 percent) and rebounds (29-27). The Lions scored 46 of their 72 points in the paint
* Wednesday's game saw 12 ties and 16 lead changes

Up Next:

* Behrend comes back home on Saturday, Feb. 8 to take on Penn State Altoona. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m.