HAMBURG, N.Y. – After battling to a 40-39 lead by intermission, the Hilbert College men's basketball team suffered a brief offensive slump midway through the second half and dropped a 91-82 AMCC game to La Roche University this afternoon.
 
Both teams shot the ball well today, closing the 40-minute contest with at least a 50-percent conversion from the floor but the Hawks gave up 10 possible points at the foul line in the loss.

THE BASICS

• Final Score:  La Roche 91   I  Hilbert 82
• Location: Hafner Recreation Center  I Hamburg, NY
• Records:  Redhawks 3-5, 2-1 AMCC  I  Hawks 4-7, 0-3 AMCC

HIGHLIGHTS

• Edward Perez led four different Hawks who notched double digit scoring.  The freshman forward tossed in 16 points, hitting 5-of-6 from the floor, while working the glass for six rebounds with four pulled on the offensive end.
• Quran Briggs made five buckets (14 points), led the Hawks with two steals and matched team-high honors in assists (3) with Eric Jackson (2-for-2 beyond the arc) and Shawn Gashi (5-for-6 at the charity stripe).

HOW IT HAPPENED
 

• The Redhawks and Hawks maneuvered through five lead changes and four times where the score was tied in the first half. 
• Hilbert held onto the early lead through six minutes until La Roche strung together seven unanswered points, taking a 16-11 lead.
• The Hawks responded with their own 20-4 run, building their largest lead (31-20) with 6:28 on the game clock.
• Jahmel Demery started and helped close the run (six points), Gashi sprinkled in a four points, while Jon Evans rallied the Hawks Nest with a dunk following his lay-up in the paint one trip earlier.  Shaheem Ellis connected from downtown and set the nine-point margin.
• La Roche pulled the score back in their favor with just over three minutes left (32-31) only to see the Hawks go back up by six points, fueled by Ellis' 2^nd three-point make with 90-second remaining. 
• La Roche went to the locker room on a high after they connected from deep before the horn sounded setting a one-point difference.
• Eric Jackson geared-up the Hilbert offense at the start of the second half, knocking down five quick points and lifted the Hawks by three points (45-42) at 18:30.
• Each team traded buckets in the paint, from beyond the arc and at the foul line for the next five minutes.  Hilbert maintained control on the score board throughout that time frame.
• La Roche regained the lead for the first time at 13:10 off an old-fashioned 3-point play and stretched it to 59-55 one trip later.
• Michael Pollard's and Jon Evans' back-to-back scores knotted the game at 59-all but that was as close as the Hawks would get.
• La Roche continued to score at rim off the bounce, or connect from the 3-point arc.
• Hilbert ended up with empty trips due to the shifting match-up defensive by the Redhawks and didn't get any closer than six points down the stretch.

GAME NOTES
 

• La Roche improved their shooing percentage to 72-percent in the second half, went 5-of-7 beyond the arc and outscored the Hawks 52-42 for the win. 
• Hilbert opened the game hitting 56-percent from the field but cooled in the final 20-minutes to a still impressive 45.2-percent (50% game).
• Rebounding, steals, turnovers were similar, but the Hawks went to the foul line 30 times making only 20 while La Roche converted 13-of-18 at the stripe.
• Shaheem Ellis notched another double-figure scoring performance, chipping in 13 points, hitting 50-percent from the floor and 3-point line (3-for-6) while Jackson reached for 10 points, went 3-for-6 from the field, 100-percent from downtown and made both free throw attempts.

 
UP NEXT

The Hawks have a week off from competition as they prepare for their final week in the classroom.  Hilbert closes the fall portion of their 2021-22 game schedule next Saturday when they travel to Alfred State College for an AMCC 3pm game in the Orvis Center.