PITTSBURGH, Pa – The Hilbert College men's basketball team fell 74-72 to La Roche College in the final Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference game of the regular season.  After the loss, Hilbert (19-6, 13-5 AMCC) dropped to the third seed  and La Roche secured the fifth seed heading into the AMCC play-offs which begin this Tuesday.

Jalen Smith came off the bench to lead the visiting Hawks with 19 points. Trevor Stark added 12 points and seven assists, while Nick Nadeau scored 13 points.

La Roche's David Jackson recorded a double-double, leading all scorers with 21 points and adding a game-high 13 rebounds, eight on the offensive glass.

Hilbert's offense caught fire in the early going as the Hawks surged ahead of La Roche. The Redhawks hit the boards and clawed back into the game, trailing 21-18 midway through the first half. The teams exchanged buckets before back-to-back threes from Jalen Smith pushed Hilbert's lead to 37-27. Lionel Perkins hit a running three at the buzzer to cut into the Hawks lead.

Hilbert shot 49% in the opening frame and assisted on an impressive 15 of 18 made baskets.

Hilbert pushed the lead to 46-35 with 16:30 remaining in the game before La Roche made a furious comeback. Neal McKown hammered home an alley-oop  and Andre Flanigan followed with consecutive reverse lay ups to knot the game at 55-55 with 10:26 left to play.

Unfazed, the visiting Hawks responded with a 6-0 run to retake the lead 61-55. La Roche answered right back with another alley-oop to ignite a late RedHawks rally.

La Roche went ahead 62-61 for the first time after an offensive put-back and an and-one situation. Jordan Kumro gave Hilbert their lead back on a contested three, but the RedHawks  fired back with a three going ahead again 69-68.

Trevor Stark pushed Hilbert into the lead 72-71 with seventy nine seconds remaining which forced a La Roche timeout.

The hosts found the rim just five seconds after the game clock resumed and followed that possession up with a trip to the foul line.  After making the first of two shots, La Roche held a 74-72 lead with 0:45 left.

La Roche's intensity on defense forced a Hilbert turnover with 2.5 seconds left, but the Hawks stole the ensuing inbounds pass to set up a potential desperation toss with 1.1 seconds remaining.

The Redhawks forced nine turnovers on their way to outscoring the Hawks 42-33 in the second half and out-rebounded Hilbert 39-29 for the game.

Hilbert returns to action in post season play when they host Pitt-Greensburg Tuesday, February 25^th in the First Round game scheduled to start at 7pm.  Hilbert and Greensburg split during the regular season, with Hilbert grabbing a road win (90-82) before they fell at home (67-62) one week ago.