HAMBURG, N.Y. – After a cold first half shooting, the Hilbert College men's basketball team returned to their true form and burned the nets in the second period en route to a 63-59 victory over #24 Penn State Behrend tonight in the Hafner Recreation Center.
 
Kirkland Ottey led a balanced attack as seven of the eight players contributed in the scoring column.   Ottey sank 6-for-9 from the floor and went 3-for-4 from downtown at a critical point in the game to lift the Hawks to their 20th win of the season. 

Zane Hackett was a force in the paint for the Lions as he netted 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and his rookie point guard, Andy Niland chipped in 17 points.

Hilbert celebrated senior night tonight before the start of the game and what a way for the five guys to go out at home.  The Hawks (14-3 AMCC) kept their chances alive for their second AMCC regular season league-title in four years, after they dropped Behrend to 20-3 and 14-3 in the league.

Seniors Jerame Owens, Xavier Major, Sean Weisansal, Ryan Bradt and Nehemiah Kornegay were tough competitors on the floor tonight, even when their shots weren't falling in the first half. 

Jalen Smith toasted the nets with consecutive long balls with aggressive defense in his face to elevate the hosts emotionally.  The south-paw finished with just nine points, but they were important points.

Owens added eight points, 15 rebounds and two blocks, while Major shot well from the free throw line hitting 3-of-4 to collect seven points.  The other big man, Ryan Bradt was solid in the paint.  He took the physical-defensive play thrown at him but held his ground, creating another strong presence in the paint.  Bradt grabbed seven rebounds and scored six points.

Nehemiah Kornegay posted three points and three rebounds in 11 minutes of action but ran the floor hard and looked to attack the rim.

Sophomore Malique McCoy's five points boosted the point production in the second half when the Hawks were searching for a scorer and his contribution was timely.

Behrend gained one additional rebound, but cleaned the offensive glass for 10 boards.  The Hawks grabbed 32 defensive (five offense) and trailed 38-37.  Each team finished with 18 fouls, though the Hawks benefited at the foul line from their 11-of-16 makes, as Behrend struggled hitting just 5-of-12.

The impressive stat is that Hilbert finished the game shooting 60.9% in the second half after they struggled the first twenty (31.0%) against the #1 ranked defensive team in Division III. 

Behrend held a 6-0 lead 60-seconds into the game off two buckets from beyond the arc.  Major scored his first two points at the charity stripe while the Lions first four scores were from down town.  At 13:14, Hilbert found themselves down 16-8 after missing nine (for the most part) easy shots.   Behrend stretched their largest lead to 12 points with just over five minutes left in the first half.

Weisansal, Kornegay and Ottey cut the difference to four points 26-22 before Behrend went to the locker room with a 28-22 lead.

After the break, Major scored in the paint prior to the Lions going back up by eight points at 18:19.  McCoy connected with a three-ball, and sandwiched his following jumper around and in-between Ottey's steal and lay-up to set the score at 36-31, Behrend.

Ottey struck-back with another three-pointer and got help from Bradt's score in the paint for a 38-36 score.  Behrend missed a pair of three's themselves and Ottey ended up on the foul line at 12:04 to knot the score for the first time at 38-38.

Owens gave the Hawks their first lead on a fast break lay-up and Ottey dialed-up back-to-back 3-pointers building a 46-38 lead.

Behrend battled back to a 2-point game, then Jalen Smith the responded with a pair of 3's with a Weisansal score in the paint to break up Smith's shots.   Even with another 8-point deficit, Behrend did not quit.

The Lions took a 56-55 lead at 2:48 yet Smith drove the lane and banked-in the score to retake the lead.

Hackett score a traditional 3-point play and gave Behrend their last lead 59-58 with 1:18 remaining.

Owens took Bradt's feed to the rim (60-59) then grabbed a huge defensive rebound before the Hawks called timeout.  Once the ball was inbounded, Owens was the recipient of a hard hit in the paint and converted both free throws for a 62-59 lead. 

Behrend missed a desperation three with 0:07 on the clock and after getting their own offensive rebound, they turned the ball over and fouled immediately.  Major made one of two free throws to set the final score at 63-59.

The Hawks have one game remaining on their regular season schedule.  They travel to central Pa to face Penn State Altoona February 20.  Earlier this season, Altoona (6-11) pulled an upset over the Hawks as the bottom team (at the time) in league standings beat the top team (67-66) in Hamburg.  With a Hilbert win, they potentially clinch the #1 seed and would host the AMCC final four weekend February 27 and 28.