PITTSBURGH, PA – La Roche men's basketball (9-8, 7-3) used an 8-2 to run in the final minute to break open a one point game and escape with a 64-57 win over D'Youville College (2-14, 1-8) on Saturday.

The Redhawks led 32-23 at the 18:29 mark of the second half but D'Youville went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to just two points. La Roche answered with a with a 6-0 run including an alley oop from Lionel Perkins to David Jackson, but the Spartans fought back again to get within a point late.

Coach Carmichael called an important timeout after Torin Smith hit a quick jumper and the Redhawks regrouped with an 8-2 run. Perkins sparked the run with a big three-pointer and Daron Tabron sealed the win with an emphatic dunk.

Coach Carmichael was happy that the Redhawks were able to fight out a win against a conference-rival.

"It was extremely important to grind out this win today and stay in good position in the conference standings. We made key stops and big baskets when it counted."

Andre Flanigan led La Roche with 13 points on 6 of 9 shooting and Perkins added 12 points and 4 assists. Joel McIntosh scored 12 points including 9 in the second half and Jackson grabbed 11 rebounds to bring his league-leading average to 9.6 rpg. Neal McKown, Daron Tabron, and Jean Freeman gave the Redhawks quality minutes off the bench.

La Roche did a great job forcing the visiting Spartans into taking tough shots and held them scoreless from behind the arc. Coach Carmichael attributed much of the win to the Redhawks' tough perimeter defense.

"I thought a big factor in the win today was to hold them to only 15 three-point attempts when they came in averaging twenty-nine a game. We defended the three very well and they went 0 for 15 from three-point range."

The Redhawks outrebounded D'Youville 38-30 to increase their rebounding margin to a league-leading 6.5 rpg. La Roche also registered double-digit steals for the third consecutive game.