Pittsburgh, PA - Despite holding a late second half lead, the Mount Aloysius Men's Basketball team's season came to an end on Saturday against La Roche. The top seeded Redhawks made a last minute three pointer to tie the game, and then went on to win the game in overtime.

The Mounties got started quickly, as Julian Stover (Washington, DC/Richard Montgomery) and Josiah Jones (Gaithersburg, MD/Magruder) hit three pointers on two early possessions. They would struggle offensively for the next 6 minutes, only managing 4 points while their opponents built a five point lead. With 6:51 to go in the first half, Christian stole the ball near mid-court, drove to the basket and completed a three point play to give the Mounties a lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the first half. The Mountie lead fluctuated between 1 and five points for the remainder of the first half, and finished as a two-point edge at the break.

The Mounties were able to work and build a double digit lead within the first 6 minutes of the first half. With a one point lead with 16:39 to go, Jones scored five straight points which were followed by inside baskets from Stover and Carlos Palacio (Bilbao, Spain/Phelps School) to put the Mounties up 10. La Roche responded with a 14-2 run of their own that saw them push ahead of the Mounties. Jones came up big again for the Mounties as he hit a contested three to turn a two point deficit into a one point lead with 6:22 to go. After trading baskets and stops for the next 5 minutes of play, Nate Christian hit a huge step back three with just over a minute left to pit the Mounties up 4. La Roche hit a free throw to cut the lead to 3 and fouled to stop the clock and get the ball back. The Mounties missed the front end of a one and one and the Redhawks took advantage, hitting a game tying three with 29 seconds left. Christian did have a shot to win the game in regulation, however his contested effort fell short and sent the game into the bonus period. 

La Roche dominated the extra period, scoring 5 straight right out of the gate. Christian hit another jumper and the Mounties added a free throw to get the lead to two, however La Roche was able to hit 6 free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

The Mounties used a balanced scoring effort from their starting five in the game. Christian and Jones scored 14 each while Stover scored 13, Palacio scored 10 and Tommy Pisula (Scottdale, PA/Southmoreland) finished with 10 as well. Christian also grabbed 10 rebounds to record his second double-double of the year. 

The Mounties finish the season at 14-13. They hosted and won the first home playoff game in program history, and earned a trip to the conference's final four for the first time.