PITTSBURGH, Pa. – La Roche College (3-0) came out on top in a battle of the unbeaten teams in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference this afternoon as they held on to beat Hilbert College 68-66, in men's basketball.

The Redhawks from Pittsburgh used a big run early in the first half and remained on top till the final horn. The Hawks  knotted the game at 63-63 and had two looks at the rim in the final six seconds of the game to force overtime, but came up empty.

Senior David Arlaud had a hot first half and finished with 18 points to lead Hilbert who dropped to 3-1 in AMCC action.  A pair of rookies followed suit as Antonio Alvarez posted 12 points (5-of-8 from the floor) and Tyler Aquilina added 11 points.  Junior Nicholas Parucki chipped in 10 points while sophomore guard Hunter Martineau found nine assists, led the Hawks with eight rebounds and three steals.

"I thought we played hard, but failed to execute during some critical possessions, at both ends of the floor," said coach Rob deGrandpre.  "La Roche was well prepared and at times we just didn't match their intensity.  We'll get back to work on Monday in preparation for Franciscan."

Both teams tested their legs early in the game.  Hilbert trailed 7-2 after almost three minutes of action but the Hawks found their shooting touch.  Arlaud tossed in six of Hilbert's eight points in a run which gave them the lead at 14:20 (10-9) and Alvarez' long ball at 12:38 gave the Hawks their largest lead in the game (17-13). 

From there, La Roche benefited from a mixture of Hilbert's empty offensive possessions and their own offensive conversions as they built a double digit lead (38-27) with 2:30 left in the first half.  The Hawks sliced the difference to just four points by intermission but still trailed 41-37.

La Roche controlled the pace of the second half and maintained their lead until 3:03 left in the game.   

Martineau pulled down a defensive rebound and fed Alqulina who was breaking down the floor for the only tie in the second half.  The Redhawks drained a 3-pointer the next possession while Hilbert answered back inside the paint. 

Now trailing by one point, the Hawks gave up three offensive rebounds to La Roche before Martineau pulled down a defensive rebound and carried the ball up court.  Hilbert had two chances to regain the lead, but both offensive looks came up empty and the Hawks were forced to foul with 0:17 seconds.  Zach Gould knocked down both free throws and gave La Roche a 68-65 lead. 

Alvarez had a chance to pull Hilbert within one, but he went 1-2 at the foul line setting a 68-66 score with 0:06 second remaining.  La Roche's Tyler Frederick gathered the defensive rebound off the missed free throw but was whistled for a travel giving Hilbert the ball back.

The Hawks had two looks at the hoop in the final seconds but they came up empty.

Hilbert has break from games as the Hawks complete their fall semester final exams this coming week.  The 5-3 Hawks will host Franciscan December 16 before they close the 2017 portion of the schedule with a road game at Waynesburg December 19.

Be sure to stay up-to-date on all your Hilbert Hawks scores and awards by following @HilbertAthletic on Twitter and by liking the "Hilbert College Athletics" Facebook page.  Additionally fans of the Hawks who have an Apple device can receive push notification from the newly created Hilbert College Hawks iOS SIDEARM mobile App which can be found in the Apple Store and ITunes.