HAMBURG, N.Y. – The Hilbert Men's Basketball team opened the 2022 fall semester with a big 90-68 win over SUNY Morrisville in the early game of the 12th Annual Hawks Against Hunger Tip Off Tournament.
RPI rallied from a 24-20 half-time deficit to pull out the 65-53 over SUNY Potsdam in the night cap.
HIGHLIGHTS
Hilbert's
Quran Briggs led all scorers with 18 points, hitting 8-of-14 from the floor, while grabbing six steals.
Jahmel Demery was a force in the paint, earning his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds along with a pair of blocked shots on defense.
Also notching double figure scoring were
Zach Miller, who knocked down 3-for-5 from the arc (14 points), and
Eric Jackson who added 12.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Morrisville jumped out to an early 9-6 advantage and maintained the lead for the first 7.5 minutes until Jackson's fast-break layup lifted the Hawks 17-16.
- Each team traded four-point leads and then played through four lead changes to intermission.
- The Hawks broke a 36-all tie with a 3-point play by Michael Pollard, the followed with a make from downtown by Miller as they rolled to a 43-38 advantage by the break.
- Hilbert continued to push and set the pace in the second half. They held a 12-point lead (55-43) just four minutes in and stretched it to 15 points (67-52) with 12 minutes left in the game.
- The Hawks went from a 10-point spread to 21 thanks to contributions from four different players, highlighted by Edward Perez' dunk and Elijah Powell's traditional three-point play before the final horn.
GAME NOTES
- There were 22 lead changes in the first half, 11 earned by each team. The Hawks scored 21 fastbreak points, 20 points in the paint, scored 55 points off the bench and earned 16 second-chance points in the win.
- What the Hawks did not do well was shoot free throws, hitting only 15-of-31 from the charity stripe.
- Hilbert shot better from the field (50.7%) than the foul line (48.4%) but out rebounded the Mustangs 52-38 while limiting them to 35.8-percent from the floor.
UP NEXT
Hilbert returns to the Hawks Against Hunger Championship game tomorrow for the 10th consecutive year. The last time Hilbert earned their Tip Off Tourney championship was in 2015 - an 88 to 71 victory against RPI.
SUNY Morrisville will battle SUNY Potsdam in the 1pm Consolation game before the Hawks and Engineers tangle at 3pm.
