HAMBURG, N.Y.  – The Hilbert College Men's Basketball team survived it's first overtime contest this year as they outscored Carlow 7-4 in overtime to win the 78-75 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference contest at home.
 
After Hilbert took a 12-point lead to the locker room, Austin Boies came up with a massive offensive rebound which he scored off of and knotted the game at 71-71 with 24 seconds left in regulation.  Shaheem Ellis and Larry Morse combined for Hilbert's seven points in the extra period as the Hawks squeaked out the win after the Celtics were unable to connect on a pair of desperation 3-point shots in the final seconds.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
 
Larry Morse, who had his first off-night shooting this year, finished with his 13th double-double pairing 17 points with 12 rebounds (6 offensive).
 
Shaheem Ellis tacked on 16 points (4-of-9 from the field and 7-of-9 at the charity stripe) in addition to leading the Hawks with six assists and three steals in 38 minutes.
 
Nathan Moore added 14 points sinking 4-of-10 3's, Quran Briggs tossed in nine points, earned six rebounds while Malachi Hartley snared four offensive rebounds along with eight points as Austin Boies pulled down eight rebounds and was credited with seven points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 

• The Hawks once again started the game with a lot of confidence as they built their largest lead (15-6) just five minutes into the contest.
• Carlow used an 8-2 run to pull within three points (17-14) at 12:46 but Hartley's three-point play gave the Hawks a six point lead again which disappeared four minutes later after the game was knotted at 23-23 at 8:37.
• Hartley hit a pair at the foul line, Quran Briggs connected on a jumper and Hartley drilled a 3-pointer at 6:34 which gave the Hawks a 30-25 advantage.
• Ellis and Boies each connected from deep while Morse and Ronnie Lewis battled for points in the paint helping the lift the Hawks 44-32 at the break.
• Moore stretched the margin to 15 points off a deep hit 40-seconds into the second half, but the Hawks went cold over the next four minutes as the Celtics pulled within three points (47-43).
• Morse hit his only shot outside the arc and Ellis scored an old fashioned 3-point play that gave the illusion that Hilbert had the game in the bag (53-43).
• At 6:26, Moore scored Hilbert's final shot from the field after he drilled a 3-pointer which gave Hilbert a 65-55 lead.
• Both teams decided to play pick-up basketball the last minutes of the game.
• Carlow knotted the game from the foul line, then each team traded one-point leads until the Celtics hit a 3-pointer with 0:45 left.
• The Hawk, after missing a 3-pointer, with 0:32, got the ball back on an inbounds play.  Boies took the ball from Carlow off the glass and forced over time.
• Morse finished an Ellis feed to the rim for another fast-break score, and Ellis, for the second time in the contest, attempted three free throws after getting fouled in the act of shooting during the overtime period.  He made all three with 1:56 left, and hit a jumper in the paint (78-74) with 1:20 in overtime.
• Carlow was fouled in transition and went 1-for-2 setting the 78-75 score; each team had two looks at the rim in the final sixty-seconds but none of the shots fell through the net. 

GAME NOTES 

• Carlow committed 15 turnovers so the Hawks took advantage outscoring the Celtics 25-13 in points off turnovers.
• The Hawks finished with 22 offensive rebounds but were outscored 40-24 in points in the paint.  
• Hilbert finished the game with it's lowest field goal percentage of the season hitting only 24-of-76 shots from the floor (31.6%) 

UP NEXT
 
Hilbert (13-7) sits in a two-way tie for fourth place in the AMCC with a 6-5 league record.  The Hawks will host 10-0 Pitt-Bradford (17-1) on Wednesday, February 5th. 
 
The Hilbert SAAC club invites all Hawk Fans to "Gold-Out" the Hafner in an attempt to slow the roll of the high-scoring Panthers, who average 107.4 points per game.