PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team upset No. 1 La Roche 67-65 to capture the 2019 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championship on Sunday evening.
Score: Penn State Behrend 67, La Roche 65
Records: Penn State Behrend (23-4), La Roche (24-3)
Noteworthy:
* After a three-hour delay due to a power outage, the Lions defeated La Roche for the first time this season in true championship fashion
* Behrend won its conference-leading sixth AMCC title and first since 2013-14
* The Lions will represent the AMCC in the NCAA Tournament
* Justin Gorny (South Park, PA/South Park) scored Behrend's final six points of the game in 1:02 to secure the win
* Gorny got the unconventional three-point play to give Behrend a one-point lead with 22 seconds remaining
* Gorny then was fouled on the rebound from a La Roche miss and hit the back end of two free throws for a 67-65 lead with 4.9 seconds remaining
* The tough Behrend defense forced another missed shot at the buzzer for the win
* In the second half, the Lions used three straight triples to push their lead to 13 points
* The Redhawks erased the double-digit lead and knotted it at 59-all with a Ray Quan Phifer three pointer with 3:33 left
* The score remained tied until Phifer hit a jump shot with 1:55 left to give La Roche the lead for the first time since the first half at 63-61
* The next possession, the Redhawks stopped a pair of triples and then the Lions fouled to get La Roche a pair of free throws and make it 65-51 with a minute left
* Gorny and Mike Fischer (Wexford, PA/North Allegheny) each tallied 14 points
* Behrend had 18 bench points led by Fukon's 11 points while Dan Wanker (Pittsburgh, PA/South Park) also added 11 points
* As a team, the Lions shot 53.1 percent from the floor
* The loss is just the third for La Roche this season
Next Up:
* The Behrend Lions will await the announcement of their first-round opponent during the NCAA Selection Show scheduled for Monday, February 25 at 12:30 p.m.