PITTSBURGH, Pa. - La Roche men's basketball returned to AMCC play on Saturday afternoon and took down previous conference unbeaten, Hilbert, 79-72 in a thrilling matchup.

It was all systems go for the Redhawks to start the matchup, as the first seven minutes of play saw La Roche storm ahead to a 22-9 lead, putting the Hawks on their heels early.

The red and white never succumbed defensively in the opening 20-minutes, as Hilbert was never able to get the deficit an closer than eight points over the final 13 minutes and the Redhawks took a 41-31 lead into the halftime break.

Out of the locker room, the tide shifted for the first 6:50 of play, as Hilbert used its own flurry of 21-9 in the second half, to eventually take the lead at 52-50.

The Redhawks regrouped with an 11-2 run to open the lead back to seven, 61-54, just before the midway point, and would hold the Hawks to at least a three plus one edge the rest of the way, handing Hilbert its first conference loss of the season.

La Roche shot 29-for-66 (43.9%) from the floor, 8-for-27 from deep (29.6%) and 13-for-15 from the foul line (86.7%).

Hilbert finished shooting 31-for-70 from the field (44.3%), 2-for-15 from three (13.3%) and 8-for-12 from the foul line (66.7%).

Distributive scoring was the them for the Redhawks, as six players would score in double figures, led by Cooper Rankin with 17 points.

Bryce Epps followed, becoming the 19th player in program history to score 1,000 points, netting 15 with six rebounds and three steals, while Logan Golle scored 13 points to go alongside seven rebounds.

Brandon Bell would score 12 points on the day, while Major Rainey and Kirkland Miller both provided 10 points each.

La Roche hits the road next on Wednesday, Jan. 14, as they take on Mt. Aloysius at 7 p.m.