HAMBURG, N.Y. – Shaheem Ellis knocked down an 8' jumper with five seconds left on the clock to lift the Hilbert College Men's Basketball team to a 90-89 win at home tonight over Pitt-Bradford.
 
The Hawks defended Bradford's Nathan Schneider well as he went coast-to-coast in a last ditch effort to win the game for the Panthers but his shot fell short.
 
Hilbert, as a team, lifted Ellis in the huddle of celebration as they improved to 8-9 overall and remain in the top three in the AMCC with a 5-2 conference record.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

Shaheem Ellis earned team high honors in points, 22, and steals, 6, while hitting 7-of-9 at the foul line.  Quran Briggs tossed in 20 points and Edward Perez added 16 points and nine rebounds, four on the offensive glass.
 
Hilbert outworked Bradford on the boards, collecting 33 rebounds to the Panthers 23 and made 31 trips to the foul line, hitting 21.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Bradford took the court and set the tempo early.  The Panthers held a 9-5 lead running their patterned offense and then pressuring the Hawks on defense, getting them out of rhythm.
• Hilbert pulled within one point off a three-point play by Briggs, then came up with a defensive stop/steal which led to Ellis' made three-pointer (15-11) forcing a Bradford timeout.
• Ellis responded with deep hit beyond the arc and Wendell Abellard connected from downtown the next possession which built an 18-11 lead.  Abellard dished the ball to Elijah Powell who extended the margin to nine points with 12:13 on the game clock.
• Bradford crept back, drilling three 3-point shots and took a one-point lead, but Zach Miller struck from beyond the arc to lift Hilbert by two again.
• The Panthers continued to set up from 3-point land and started trading scores with the Hawks through to half time.
• After trailing by one (50-49 at intermission, Hilbert twice built a three-point lead early in the second half.
• Bradford went on an 11-2 run which gave them their largest lead (69-59) with just under 13 minutes left.
• Hilbert inched their way back and made it a one-point game multiple times before jumping back on top 81-80 with five minutes left.
• The Hawks maintained the lead until Bradford scored in the lane with 0:48 setting an 88-89 score. 
• Hilbert turned the ball over, then committed a foul which sent Bradford's best player to the foul line.  He missed the front end of a 1 and 1, Perez pulled down the defensive rebound and gave the ball to his guards.  Ellis penetrated from the right wing, around the foul line to  left elbow and  scored the winning jumper.

GAME NOTES 

• Hilbert finished the game hitting 53.4% of their shots from the floor, 46.7% from three point line (7-15) and made 21-of31 foul shots while Bradford shot an impressive 56.9% from the floor, hit 13 3-pointers (of 25) and went 18-20 at the foul line.
• Hilbert forced 18 turnovers and committed only 14, but Bradford's defensive pressure forced rushed and off-balanced Hilbert shots.
• The Hawks were credited with 18 second-chance points while holding Bradford to just one. 

UP NEXT

The Hawks hit the road again this weekend for another important rematch against Penn State Altoona Saturday, January 28th.  Hilbert earned a 101-96 victory a few weeks ago and gave the Lions (5-1) their only blemish on the AMCC record.