Box Score

HAMBURG, NY – The Hilbert College men's basketball team is headed for the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championship weekend after their 90-73 First Round victory over Pitt-Greensburg tonight.  Jalen Smith led the Hawks with 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting and Greensburg's rookie Marcus Thomas led all scorers with 23 points on 7 of 10 shooting while grabbing down 16 rebounds.

The Hawks had six players reach double-figures.  Besides Smith's three of four from long distance, Trevor Stark also connected four of six beyond the arc to chip in 16 points and five assists.  Jerame Owens and Jordan Kumro added 13 points.  Owens earned his points in the paint while Kumro was three of five from the arc.

Nick Nadeau finished with 12 points, four assists and two steals and Xavier Major had a complete game giving the Hawks 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and one steal in 25 minutes.

Greensburg's Jerell Figueroa added 18 points and four assists and Rocco Contristano chipped in 16 points.  Both Bobcats were seven of 14 from the floor.

CJ Hodge has put on the Hawks jersey as a starter the most times in Hilbert's basketball history as he reached 106 games with 103 starts as a player. 

Hilbert was on fire the first 20 minutes of action.  They shot 64.5 percent from the floor including 8 of 13 from the arc.  Hilbert was only one percent better from the free throw line (5-8) than they were from three point range.  The Hawks either scored transition layups or unloaded from beyond 20 feet 9 inches for an extra point. 

Hilbert held a 53-37 half time lead with Jalen Smith's 14 points leading the way.  Thomas kept the Bobcats respectable with 17 first-half points.

Greensburg chipped away at Hilbert's largest lead of 22 points which they held at 18:11 in the second half.  The Hawks were held defensively to only one bucket over the next eight minutes of play.  Greensburg exploded with a 20-2 run cutting the score to 61-57 at 11:01.  Both teams traded baskets before Hilbert turned up their pace again and went on an 11-2 run started with a Jalen Smith three-point shot and ended with a Jerame Owens layup at 3:38 remaining. 

The momentum slowed as Greensburg began to foul early at that point and Hilbert sank 12 of 18 from the charity stripe to close out the victory.

This marks the Hawks fifth time they have qualified for the AMCC semi-final game since joining the AMCC ten years ago and their second consecutive 20-win season. 

Hilbert and Medaille will square off for the third time this season on Friday at 8 pm in the Junker Center on the campus of Penn State Behrend.  The Hawks and Mavs split their games this season, with Medaille getting the win in Hamburg (82-73) and Hilbert grabbing a victory in North Buffalo (90-85). 

In the other semi-final game at 6pm, the number one seeded Lions from Behrend will face Pitt-Bradford  who beat La Roche (73-66) in tonight's First Round game action in Bradford, PA.