HAMBURG, N.Y. – The Hilbert College men's basketball team knows how to entertain and keep their fans on the edge of their seats.  Twice this week, the Hawks rallied from a half time deficit and battled for a come-from behind victory which ensured a spot in the AMCC post-season tournament next week.
 
Hilbert earned a 73-70 victory off the fingertips of Zach Miller's deep 3-pointer with two seconds left in regulation.  The Hafner Recreation Center exploded with energy as Miller calmly went to the team's bench after a timeout was called.

THE BASICS

• Final Score:  Hilbert 73   I Mount Aloysius 70
• Location: Hafner Recreation Center, Hamburg, NY
• Records:  Hawks 11-14, 7-9 AMCC   I Mounties 5-20, 3-13 AMCC

HIGHLIGHTS

• Prior to the tip, the men's basketball program honored two senior athletes in their final home game in the Hafner this year.  Shawn Gashi and his family as well as Taghi Jalilov and his sister shared the spot-light center court in a brief pre-game ceremony.
• Once photos become available, they will be posted in the this story as well as on Facebook.
• Quran Briggs led all scorers with 24 points, hitting 50% from the floor and going 3-for-4 from the foul line.  Zach Miller added 12 points, all from long distance, to lift the Hawks into the win column.  Eric Jackson added nine points and a team-high eight rebounds and five assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After a pair of lead changes early in the game, Mount Aloysius turned the burners on sprinted to a ten-point lead (24-14) with just under eight minutes remaining in the opening half.
• Both teams traded hoops, until Quran Briggs scored six consecutive points which pulled Hilbert within four (30-34) with 1:30 on the clock.
• Mount Aloysius took a 38-30 advantage to the locker room by getting into the paint to finish possessions; they either drove by defenders or set up pick and roll player for shots near the rim. They held a 26-10 advantage of scoring in the paint and tossed in 11 points off of Hilbert's 12 turnovers.
• Nevada Eldridge made both free throws prior to Miller and Jackson connecting from deep which knotted the game at 38-all just 65-seconds into the second half.
• Three minutes later, Mount Aloysius built another double-digit lead (52-38) and stretched it to 16 points off a dunk at 14:53. 
• The Hawks went on a 17-0 run and took the lead with 4:46 on the game clock. Nevada Eldridge, Michael Pollard and Edward Perez went 5-for-6 from the foul line, before Perez drilled a 3-pointer and Jackson hit a short jumper setting a five-point margin.  Briggs strung together three scores which lifted Hilbert 61-59 at 5:30.
• After seven lead changes, Eldridge forced a 70-70 score from the foul line with 1:11 remaining.
• The Mounties turned the ball over on their next possession and then Hilbert was in the driver's seat.
• Eldridge grabbed an offensive rebound and the Hawks called a timeout.
• Hilbert missed a jumper in traffic, but Jackson corralled the offensive rebound and found Miller at the top of the arc for the game-winner with two-seconds remaining.
• The Mounties threw the ball away near mid-court and Hilbert picked up the steal at the buzzer.

GAME NOTES

• Edward Perez tossed in six points and grabbed seven rebounds while Nevada Eldridge added five points (all free throws) and seven rebounds.
• Hilbert finished the game hitting 52.9-percent from the 3-point arc (9-for-17) but only 38.7-percent from the floor. 
• Since two thirds of the scores were in the paint (42 points), the Mounties closed the game hitting 50% from the floor.
• The Hawks held a 10-point advantage from the charity stripe (16-of-27 vs 6-of-9) and earned 21 offensive rebounds, which they converted to 21 second-chance points.  

UP NEXT

• The Hawks prepare now prepares for the program's 12th trip to the AMCC postseason tournament.  Hilbert is on a two-year run playing past game 25 in the regular season schedule, after making an eight-year run from 2010-11 through 2017-18.  Coach deGrandpre has guided the Hawks to three AMCC Championship games.
• No. 1 Penn State Behrend will host the tournament's final four week on Friday/Saturday February 25 & 26.  No. 2 Penn State Altoona joins Behrend with a First Round bye and they advance to the Final Four.
• No. 3 La Roche with host No. 6 Hilbert while No. 4 Medaille will host No. 5 Pitt-Greensburg Tuesday, February 22 (7 pm).  The winner of the 4/5 game advances to the opening semifinal game Friday against No. 1 Penn State Behrend (6:00 pm) and the winner of the 3/6 game advances to Friday's nightcap semifinal game against No. 2 Penn State Altoona (8:30 pm).  The AMCC league champion will be crowned Saturday (3:00 pm) and will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.