No. 1 La Roche defeats No. 2 Pitt-Greensburg in finale

No. 1 La Roche and No. 2 Pitt-Greensburg, the top-seeded men’s basketball teams in the NCAA Division III Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament, put on a dazzling dress rehearsal for the postseason in front of an overflow crowd Wednesday night at UPG’s Chambers Hall.

The league’s top two teams came to play.

Tyler Frederick scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and La Roche extended its winning streak to 10 with a 79-75 victory over Pitt-Greensburg, which was playing its regular-season finale.

Two-time defending tournament champion La Roche (18-6, 18-1) closes the regular season Saturday against Alfred State after clinching its third consecutive regular-season title.

“I knew it wouldn’t be easy to come in here and win, but we got it done,” La Roche coach Hermie Carmichael said. “They average 82 points per game, and we held them to 75 at their place. I’m extremely happy to come down here and get a win.”

Frederick, a Butler product, scored 20 of his game-high total in the second half to help La Roche rally from a 35-31 halftime deficit. He shot 11 for 17 overall and 4 for 6 from 3-point range as the Redhawks survived hot-shooting UPG, which finished at 55% (33 for 60) overall.

UPG (20-5, 16-4) was playing its second game without leading scorer Matt Johnson (15.8 ppg), who suffered a season-ending knee injury in a 60-54 victory Feb. 12 at Mt. Aloysius.

“We’re just rolling on. That’s been our mindset,” UPG coach Brody Jackson said. “The guys who are here are the guys we’re going to play with.”

Penn-Trafford graduate Cam Seigfreid led five UPG players in double figures with 15 points. Torian Jenkins, who replaced Johnson at point guard in the Bobcats lineup, added 14 points. The others were Brady Kingston with 11 and Cody Spaid and Isaiah Zeise with 10 each.

Austin Hannes (Knoch), whose layup in the closing seconds sealed the victory for La Roche after JoJo France’s potential go-ahead 3-pointer for UPG was off the mark, scored 19 points for the Redhawks.

Kennedy Smith, with 11, and Darius Lawrence, with 10, also were in double figures.

The AMCC Tournament gets underway Tuesday with a pair of first-round games. The top six teams from the regular season qualify.

La Roche and UPG will play semifinal games Feb. 28 leading to the championship game Feb. 29.

Jackson, despite Wednesday’s loss, was elated at the prospect of playing into March.

“The past couple years, we were playing our last regular-season games and hugging each other and that’s the end of it,” he said.

“I know it’s not technically March, but this is March Madness, and we’re one game away from playing in a championship game for a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament.”