HAMBURG, N.Y. – After trailing at half time by 10 points, the Hilbert College men's basketball team found their shooting touch and revved up their second-half point production to outdistance D'Youville College (6-13, 4-8)  tonight. 

The Hawks (13-5, 8-4) shot a blistering 66.7% from the floor and scored 51 points in the final period to earn their second-straight AMCC victory 87-79.

Sean Weisansal was terrific on the court tonight.  He converted 7-of-9 attempts (2-for-2 beyond the arc) to earn game-high scoring honors with 24 points, while picking up three steals and five assists.  He missed more shots from the foul line (8-11) than the floor.

Ryan Bradt gave the Hawks big minutes and sank key shots down the stretch.  The junior forward was a perfect 8-for-8 from the floor and pulled in seven rebounds in 20-minutes of action. 

Trevor Stark posted his normal eight assists and added 15 points while his big man in the middle Jerame Owens collected his eighth double-double (13/13)  while earning game-high four steals.

D'Youville's Julian Reed led the visitors with 20 points while Jon Gemerek and Matt Insley each reached double figures.

The pace of the first half was all in D'Youville's favor as they rushed out to an early 10-point lead (19-8) just five minutes into the game.  Just five minutes later, the Spartans built a 21 point lead off pin-point accuracy shots.  With exactly five minutes remaining, D'Youville held a 43-26 lead; at that point Hilbert cut the 17 point difference to 10 points at the break.

The Spartans shot 59.4% from the floor and hit 6-of-13 three point shots to lead 46-36.  Hilbert made only one of the nine long distance shots they took but still finished with a 41.9 field goal percentage.

Both teams traded baskets for the first five minutes in the second half.  Trevor Stark's three straight tear-drop shots in the middle of the paint started a Hilbert run which ended at 12:29 after Jerame Owens sank the second of two free throws which knotted the game for the first time 56-56.  

Reed made his first then missed his second and that was it for D'Youville.  Their 57-56 lead quickly disappeared as the Hawks turned up their determination and pushed the ball looking for scores in transition.

Ryan Bradt contributed eight points in a span of eight minutes which started in the beginning of the come-back run and carried through till the Hawks held their largest lead at 6:37, 71-58 (13 points) of his tip-in bucket.  

The closest D'Youville got was 75-71 before the Hawks sprinted for lay-ups or made several trips to the charity stripe to close out the game. Weisansal scored seven of the Hawks final nine points for the win.

Hilbert shot 20-for-30 from the floor the last period relaying on layups or short jumpers as they attacked the rim for easy points in transition.

Hilbert returns to action this weekend when they travel to Franciscan University for a 4pm tip January 31.