Hilbert College

February 19, 2005

HAMBURG, NY – The Hilbert College men’s basketball play-off hopes were shattered over the weekend as the Hawks split a pair of conference games at the Hafner Recreation Center.  Friday night’s 88-78 loss to Penn State Altoona doomed any chance of reaching the 2004-05 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament.  The Hawks completed the season on Saturday with a 111-96 win over visiting Mount Aloysius College to finish the season at 10-15 overall, and 8-10 in their inaugural season of AMCC play.

On Friday night against Penn State Altoona, the Hawks led for most of the first half and owned a 44-38 advantage at the break thanks to shooting 57% from the field.  In the second half, the visiting Lions regrouped and outscored the Hawks 50-34 while shooting a sizzling 62% from the field. 

The Lions build a nine-point lead on a basket by Tyler Franklin with 9:26 remaining but the Hawks wouldn’t go away.  Hilbert’s Sam Gioia (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca West) connected on a pair of free throws with 7:35 remaining to cut the Lions lead to 66-61.  After trading baskets down the stretch, Penn State Altoona nailed 10 of 12 free throws over the final 4:20 to secure the win as the Hawks couldn’t get any closer.

Franklin finished with a game high 29 points while leading five different Lions in double figures.  The Hawks were led by Gioia’s 23 markers and seven rebounds while Dominic Miller (Niagara Falls, NY/West Seneca West) poured in 19 points, on eight of 10 shooting, while also hauling in seven boards.  The Hawks drained 10 three pointers on the night, but lost the battle on the boards (39-28) giving up 12 costly offensive rebounds.

Saturday afternoon at the Hafner Center was “Senior Day” as the Hawks three seniors, Gioia, Will Wereley (Syracuse, NY/Henninger), and Sean Kenney (Tonawanda, NY/Tonawanda) played their last collegiate game against AMCC foe Mount Aloysius College.

Not willing to sulk over the previous night’s outcome, the Hawks got out of the gate quickly against the visiting Mounties high scoring offense and quickly build a 13 point lead before heading into the locker room with a 54-47 advantage.

A three-pointer by Kenney with 7:48 remaining in the game gave the Hawks an 82-70 advantage.  The Mounties kept things interesting when Roman Mims connected on a deep three-pointer of his own to cut the Hawks lead to 88-81 with 4:26 to play.  Hilbert connected on 15 of 18 free throws down the stretch while extending their lead to as many as 17 before he final horn sounded.

Gioia led six-different Hawks in double figures with 24 points, including 14 of 14 from the foul line.  Kenney finished with 19, including four three pointers while Miller finished with 17 and a team high 10 rebounds.  Wereley chipped in with 11 points and five boards while Mims led Penn State Altoona with 34 points.

The top six out of ten teams advance to the AMCC conference tournament with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tourney in March.  The Hawks placed seventh in their first complete season in the newly configured conference.