Behrend Men's Basketball Set to Battle No. 1 La Roche Friday in AMCC Semifinals

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The No. 5 Penn State Behrend men's basketball team travels to Pittsburgh, PA on Friday to take on No. 1 La Roche in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Semifinals. Game time is set for 12 p.m.

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No. 5 Penn State Behrend News & Notes

* The Behrend Lions defeated No. 4 Pitt-Greensburg 76-63 in the first round of the AMCC Tournament on Tuesday
* seasons
* The Lions are looking to secure their seventh championship this weekend and first since 2018-19 season
* Behrend has a 26-19 all-time record in the AMCC Tournament
* Tommy DiRienzo (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) dropped a career-high 35 points and six three-pointers against the Bobcats on Tuesday
* Mason Blankenberg (Ontario, NY/Wayne) added 14 points and Matt Niland (Erie, PA/Fairview) recorded 12 points
* RJ Marsh (State College, PA/Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy) pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds to go with eight points, three assists and two steals
* Behrend has made an appearance in every AMCC Tournament since the inception in 1999

No. 1 La Roche News & Notes

* La Roche clinched the AMCC regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed for the tournament
* The Redhawks have won the AMCC title in three of the last five seasons
* Devon Darrell leads the team and is third in the conference in scoring with 19.6 points per game
* La Roche is 10-1 when playing on its home court this season
* The Redhawks have won seven in a row, including an 81-70 victory over Alfred State in the regular-season finale
* La Roche has the second-best defense in the AMCC, allowing 70.2 points

Series History

* Behrend and La Roche have a history dating back to 1977-78 season
* The Lions have won 47 games and lost 35 in the series
* The Redhawks have won 11 of the last 13 meetings
* Behrend's last win was a 75-74 decision last season