BRADFORD, Pa.  – The Hilbert College men's basketball team shot the ball well, hit their free throws down the stretch and held their composure in their second-half comeback win at Pitt-Bradford tonight.

The Hawks got big minutes from their back court and dominating play from Edward Perez as Hilbert posted a 105-98 AMCC win in the KOA Arena.

THE BASICS              

• Final Score: Hilbert 105 |  Pitt.-Bradford 98
• Location: KOA Arena | Bradford, Pa.
• Records: I  Hawks 10-14, 6-9 AMCC | Panthers  9-16, 4-12 AMCC 

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Edward Perez led the Hawks with 28 points (10-15 FG), hitting 8-of-9 from the foul line and pulled in seven rebounds.  His freshmen guards, Quran Briggs and Shaheem Ellis tossed in 18 and 17 points in, respectively. 
• Shawn Gashi was credited with five assists (8 points) and Nevada Eldridge tossed in eight points and seven rebounds before fouling out late in the game. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Bradford started the game fast.  They sprinted to an early 20-9 lead fueled by a 7-0 run in the game's first six minutes.
• The Panthers built a 26-13 score before the Hawks clawed their way back to a 34-34 score with seven minutes remaining.  Eldridge (6), Briggs (7), Ellis (5) and Perez (3) combined for all Hilbert's points while Gashi, Ellis and Briggs were credited with one assist in that run.  Meanwhile, Eldridge and Perez worked for offensive rebound- put-back scores in that same stretch which broke Bradford's back in the paint.
• The Hawks knotted the score twice before they fell behind by as many as 10 points but settled for a 51-46 half time score.
• Hilbert pushed the pace after intermission; they took their first lead in the game off a Zach Miller jumper at 17:59 (53-51).
• After seven lead changes, the Hawks were finally able to put back-to-back possessions together for a 67-63 lead off an Ellis' 3-pointer.
• Twice Hilbert extended their lead to five points, only to see the game tighten again and roll back into back-and-forth scoring affair.
• After six more lead changes, Briggs hit a 3-pointer putting Hilbert up by two with 5:57 on the clock and then hit a short jumper in the paint before Evans connected in the lane for the 4-point lead (92-88) at 4:18. 
• Each time Bradford responded, the Hawks came up big.  Gashi finished a 3-point play, Perez scored in the lane and then Gashi hit a 3-pointer in front of his own bench to lift Hilbert 100-94.
• Hilbert went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final 30 seconds of the game which secured the win. 

GAME NOTES 

• Edward Perez had Pitt-Bradford's number this year.  Earlier in Hamburg, Perez burned the Panthers for 23 points (11-15 FG) and 10 rebounds.
• Scott Warner provided important minutes, scoring seven points (2-for-2 FG) and pulled down three offensive rebounds (5 total) off the bench.
• The Hawks connected on .506-percent from the field, made seven 3-point field goals and made 20-of-31 from the charity stripe.
• The Panthers hit .476-percent from the floor while knocking in eight shots from downtown.  They added 30 points from the foul line hitting 81.1% of their attempts.
• Hilbert controlled the boards (45-37) earned 19 offensive rebounds which they converted into 26 second-chance points.
• The Hawks bench mauled the Panthers bench in scoring, building a 44-6 margin.

WHAT'S NEXT
Hilbert secured at least the 6th seed in the AMCC post-season tournament after tonight's victory.  The top six teams move into the post-season which begins Tuesday, February 22nd and the Hawks will have to wait for Saturday's results to see if they can move up to fifth place.

Hilbert closes the regular season this Saturday when they host No. 9 Mount Aloysius (3-12) in the Hafner.  The men's basketball program will also honor their two seniors, Shawn Gashi and Taghi Jalilov, before the 3pm pregame introductions.