PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Franciscan men's basketball team led by as many as 18 points in the second half, but the La Roche Redhawks found a late-game surge to remain perfect in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference with a 75-72 win, Wednesday evening.
 
With the win, the Redhawks improve to 13-2 on the year and 8-0 in the AMCC while the Barons sit at 8-7 for the season and 4-4 in conference.
 
"Tonight will be a tough pill to swallow. We had the game in our hands and were unable to close," remarked head coach Joe Wallace. "I'm pretty sure you won't find a tougher group of guys. I love going to battle with them. We just have to become smarter. That's what will help us become what we believe we can, and that's one of the top teams in our league."
 
With 12:57 to play in the second, junior Josh York (Russia, OH/Russia Local) completed a three-point play after getting fouled on his layup to give the Barons a 59-41, their largest of the game. The Redhawks answered with a three in their next possession to kick off a 15-4 run to get within seven, 63-56, with 5:01 to play. York hit the back end of a trip to the free throw line to push the lead back to eight, 64-56, and the two teams traded four 3-pointers, two from Zach Gould for the Redhawks while junior Joe Schriner and sophomore Sean Hickey each knocked one down.
 
La Roche then went on an 9-0 run to take a one-point lead with 48 seconds left, highlighted by five points from the free throw line. Junior Matt Trent knocked down a pair of free throws with 37 seconds left to give the Barons back the lead, 72-71, but Tyler Frederick made a layup on the Redhawks next possession to take back the lead 73-72. Franciscan had the ball in the final seconds but La Roche forced a turnover and made a pair of free throws to seal the 75-72 comeback win.
 
"I'll take the blame for the last few minutes. I could've taken more control of the offense," continued Coach Wallace.
 
The first half saw six lead changes until the Barons took the lead for good with 10:07 to play as Schriner knocked down a three early in the Barons possession. Noce followed with a three-point play of his own after hitting the free throw after a foul on his layup to give Franciscan a six-point advantage, 22-16. The Barons pushed their lead to 11, 38-27, with 1:52 left thanks to another three from Schriner. Hickey hit the back end of a trip to the free throw line thanks to a technical foul to the Redhawk bench to give Franciscan a 12-point advantage, 39-27.
 
The Redhawks chipped away in the final 1:07 to cut the deficit down to five, 39-34, at the break.
 
Franciscan opened the second half with a 10-point run thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from Schriner. La Roche cut the lead back down to 10, 49-39, before a 10-2 run over the next four minutes to take the 18-point lead late in the second.
 
Franciscan shot 43.6% from the floor for the game (24-55) and was 10-for-18 from three-point range. The Barons hit 14 of their 16 free throws.
 
Leading the way for the Barons was Schriner with a career-high 26 points behind seven three pointers. Schriner hit his first seven three-point attempts and was 9-for-14 from the floor. The junior pulled down eight rebounds and handed out an assist.
 
"Joe Schriner was fun to watch," complimented Coach Wallace. "We all know he's capable of taking over a game."
 
Hickey posted 16 points for the game and four steals while York added 10. Junior John Noce posted seven points, five rebounds, and handed out an assist.
 
The Barons return home for the first time in 2019 as they welcome Penn St.-Behrend to Kuzma Court on Saturday, January 12 for a 4:00 pm AMCC contest.
 
"We need to regroup and move forward," said Coach Wallace. "That is our next test as a program – can we learn from tonight and use it to take the next step. I know our guys will be ready to practice tomorrow."