GREENSBURG, Pa. – The Hilbert College men's basketball team picked up an impressive 101-89 road win this afternoon over Pitt-Greensburg which kept the Hawks (7-1) in 1st place in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. The Bobcats slipped to 2nd place (6-2) as they never led in the game and tried to dig out of a 24-point hole in the second half.
Sean Weisansal led four Hilbert players who netted 15 points or more. Weisansal and
Jalen Smith connected four times each from downtown to post 22 and 20 points respectively. They both were prefect from the foul line with Smith hitting all six attempts. Weisansal grabbed eight rebounds, added six assists and one block as Smith swiped five steals and gave out two assists.
Jerame Owens finished with another solid game and has been working extremely hard on defense since the holiday break. After his seven steals this afternoon, he now needs just seven more steals to become the program's All Time career Steals leader. The senior center scored 19 points grabbed 13 rebounds, dished a pair of assists and added two more blocks to his other career leading category.
Kirkland Ottey sank 6-of-8 shots from the floor and 75% of his free throw attempts to join the double-digit crowd with 15 points. He also added a pair of blocks and three assists in the high scoring affair.
Xavier Major (six points),
David Arlaud (nine points) and
Ryan Bradt (eight points) combined for a 61% shooting night helping the Hawks pull out the win in Greensburg.
Hilbert found their shooting touch again, striking for 52.2% (40% beyond the arc) from the floor and went 21-28 from the charity stripe. Greensburg produced a 45.1% field goal shooting but was a dismal 17.4% from downtown and attempted only five free throws (hitting them all).
Hilbert outscored the Bobcats 52-48 in the paint and only picked up 6-seoncd chance points. The Hawks led from start to finish while posting their 4th 101+ game of the season.
Weisansal put the first points on the score board when he dialed up from long distance at 18:54. Ottey added a layup 12-seconds later and Owens scored an old fashioned three-point play at 18:29 for a 7-2 lead.
Major started a 7-point Hilbert run scoring a bucket and a pair of freebies before Smith laid-in a bucket and went to the foul line to build a 12-point (29-17) advantage. Owens, Smith and Ottey started another 7-pt run and held a 17-point lead by 5:47. And Arlaud and Owens finished another 8-0 push before the break to build a 22-point spread.
Greensburg was knocking on the door around the 10-minute mark in the second half and cut Hilbert's lead to just 10 points (80-70) with 8:52 left. The Hawks stretched their lead by to 18-points again thanks to another Smith 3-point shot at 5:41 and they coasted to victory from there.
Hilbert (13-2) is tied with Penn State Behrend (12-1) as the #1 team in the AMCC as both squads hold a 7-1 record. The Hawks will need your support this Monday, January 18th when they travel to Erie, Pa to battle Behrend in a 6pm contest. The winner of that game will be a solo leader in the AMCC at the conclusion of the first-half of the AMCC schedule.
Hilbert will then start the second half of the league schedule next Thursday in the Hafner Recreation Center when they host Medaille College (5-10, 3-5 AMCC) whom the Hawks beat in North Buffalo (72-67) on December 2.
