ALFRED, N.Y. – The Hilbert College Men's Basketball team suffered a 108-95 loss to Alfred State College tonight in the Ovis Activity Center.
 
The Hawks, down by 20 points most of the game, made it a nine-point spread late in the second half, only to fall to the Pioneers on the road.
 
Hilbert (5-5) dropped to seventh place in the AMCC standings while Alfred State improved to 7-4, sitting in a log-jam for second (through fourth) place.

HIGHLIGHTS

Edward Perez and Justin Poumpey netted 20 points each, sinking a combined 15-of-20 from the floor.  Perez led with 23 points (8-of-10) with a 7-of-10 performance at the charity stripe while Poumpay connected on 7-of-10 from the field, was perfect 8-of-8 at the foul line and led with four assists.

Shaheem Ellis, who finished the game strong with two steals, match Quran Briggs with 12 points.

Jahmel Demery led the Hawks with 10 rebounds, adding seven points in the Hawks offensive effort.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Alfred State started the game on fire, hitting five 3-pointer to build a 19-9 lead after just five minutes of action. 
• Briggs kept Hilbert close with four quick points in the first minutes of action and Nathan Moore's 3-pointer pulled the Hawks into a 4-point game (13-9) at 15:31. 
• Hilbert then went cold from the floor over the next five minutes and, after the Pioneers connected on their eighth make from downtown, quickly found themselves down 38-15 with 8:18 left in the first half.
• Edward Perez scored his first basket at 5:21 in the first half yet led the Hawks with 10 points at the break.   
• Hilbert continued to trade buckets with the Pioneers for the first ten minutes of the second half.  Each time the Hawks pulled within 16 points the Pioneers struck from downtown stretching their lead to almost 20 points multiple times.
• Trailing 91-70 with 7:10 on the clock, Hilbert went on a 17-6 run to pull within nine points (97-88) with 3:02 left in the game. 
• Shaheem Ellis recorded seven points, going 5-for-5 from the charity stripe, while Perez added four points, Demery a dunk and Sonny Williams as well as Justin Poumpey each added two points in that run.

GAME NOTES

• Alfred State, when not hitting shots beyond the arc in the first half, recorded four 'And 1's' in the paint.  They were 23-of-37 from the field (62%), and 8-of-15 (53%) from beyond the 3-point line.
• Hilbert got better as the game progressed, finishing the game hitting 49% from the field (33-of-67).  
• The Hawks won the battle of the boards (39-26) and outscored Alfred State 27-5 from the bench.

UP NEXT

Hilbert hits the road again this weekend for back-to-back AMCC games Saturday and Sunday.  Hilbert will face Carlow University at 4 pm January 27th (Oakland Catholic High School) and then play their rescheduled AMCC game at Mount Aloysius January 28th with a 2 pm tip in Cresson, Pa.