HAMBURG, N.Y. – The pace was fast with shots falling from all over the court in a rescheduled AMCC game against Medaille College in the Hafner Recreation Center tonight. 
 
Hilbert College got a big lift after intermission in the second half and knotted the game at 49-all but they never took the lead as the Mavs earned an 87-78 victory over the Hawks in men's basketball.

THE BASICS

• Final Score:  Medaille 87   I Hilbert 78
• Location: Hafner Recreation Center, Hamburg, NY
• Records:  Mavs 9-11, 6-6 AMCC   I Hawks 9-13, 5-8 AMCC

HIGHLIGHTS

• Freshmen Shaheem Ellis and Nevada Eldridge led the Hilbert offensive charge scoring 18 points each.  Eldridge went 7-for-9 from the floor, setting a new career-high in points and grabbed four offensive rebounds (6 total) while Ellis knocked down 4-of-7 from deep and earned three assists and two steals.
• Eric Jackson tossed in 13 points and led the Hawks with four assists as Zach Miller reached from deep on three different trips to tally 10 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Medaille's first two shots were makes from downtown which set the tone early.Zach Miller matched their range and made it a 6-3 game less than two minutes into the contest.
• The Hawks kept it a two possession game until a pair of daggers from deep stretched Medaille into a double figure lead.
• Hilbert found themselves down by as many as 17 points before they made a run with six and a half minutes to go.
• Eldridge led the push with six points all in the paint, while Ellis and Miller each hit a 3-pointer in the that stretch.  Noah Fox (4 points) and Ellis dished assists on their teammates scores and Jahmel Demery went 2-for-2 at the foul line to pull the Hawks to an eight-point deficit at the break (45-37).
• Quran Briggs, who struggled with foul trouble as the game progressed, opened the second half with his first bucket in the game, from beyond the arc.
• Each team traded buckets until Eldridge's score inside and made free throw sliced it back to a five point spread at 17:03.
• Briggs made the back-end of a two shot free throw and then Ellis, after forcing a turnover and picking up a steal, made his trip to the charity stripe thanks to a Medaille foul in transition defense.
• His ensuing free throws and then short jumper after a coast-to-coast score, knotted the game at 49-all 90-second later.
• Medaille created five points off back-to-back And 1 attempts in one single trip down the floor to take the wind out of Hilbert's sails. 
• After scoring the bucket in the paint, they missed the free throw, but earned the offensive rebound.  And that continued their possession which turned into another score, And 1 attempt which was scored.
• Ellis hit a deep shot, pulling Hilbert back into a 6-point deficit and Eldridge responded with back-to-back power moves in the paint.
• Miller struck beyond the arc inching the Hawks within four points again (69-65) but that was as close as Hilbert got the rest of the way.

GAME NOTES
 

• Hilbert closed the second half hitting 48-percent from the field and connected on 4-of-9 from beyond the arc in their comeback attempt.  The Hawks made 11-of-18 at the foul line, many of the misses coming late in the game when they were most needed.
• Medaille finished the game shooting 49-percent after blistering the nets for a first half 57-percent performance.  They took reached from downtown, closing with 41-percent from the 3-point line and faired better from the charity stripe, hitting 75-percent of their attempts.
• Medaille upended Hilbert, forcing 16 turnovers which led to 12 steals and a 22-5 advantage in points off turnovers.

UP NEXT

Hilbert returns to action this weekend in the Hafner Center when they welcome Penn State Altoona in a 3pm AMCC contest.  The Lions currently sit in 1st place in the league having played 12 games.  They have a one-game lead over Penn State Behrend who has only played 11 games.