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Men’s Basketball Pulls through in OT

Begins the season with a win
Release Date:
November 17, 2009
Contact:
The Office of Sports Information
(716) 649-7900 ext. 333

                                   

Several campus clubs became the 'sixth man' in lifting the Hawks onto victory.  Their timely cheering can be credited for the visiting team's player  missing the first of two free throws with .01 second left in regulation.  After he sunk the second foul shot, the game continued on into overtime.

 

HAMBURG, NY - The Hilbert men’s basketball team opened their regular season in front of a large group of excited fans who helped to pull the team emotionally through the game, into overtime and out with a win. After a 65 deadlock score at the completion of 40 minutes, both teams fought through the overtime period and the Hawks outlasted the Yellow Jackets in the final 5 minutes to secure a 72-67 victory. Hilbert starts the season 1-0.

 
Leading the way for Hilbert was freshman Darren Cleveland (Lackawanna, NY/Lackawanna) with 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 steals before fouling out with 1:26 left in regulation. He was only 4-16 from the floor but hit 13-16 from the free throw line and had 6 offensive rebounds.   Keeping the team’s composure on the court was junior Cody Troutman (South Dayton, NY/Pine Valley/JCC) who led all players in minutes played (38 of the 45). He also contributed double figure scoring with 15 points, 5 of them in the first 65 seconds of the overtime period giving the Hawks the lead they needed to finish the game. Hilbert also saw freshman Roman Brown (Buffalo, NY/South Park) score 14 points and grab 9 rebounds just outpacing sophomore Nick Piccone (North Chili, NY/Aquinas) who had 10 points.
 
As a team, the Hawks shot 30.9% for the night.   What hurt Hilbert was the 5-31 shooting in the first half which dug them in the 31-22 half time deficit.   The second half saw the home team extend their defense and put pressure on the opposing team’s perimeter players. In turn, the Hawks shooting percentage improved and thing started to gel for the team.   Hilbert won the battle on the boards with a close 47-42 advantage and picked off more Waynesburg possessions with 15 steals. The Hawks had 25 points off the Yellow Jacket turnovers alone.
 
Waynesburg had three players hitting double figures in scoring: Steven Iser led the group with 21 points, James Allenby and Ryan Courneen had 10 points apiece.
 
Coach Rob deGrandpre shared his opinion in a hoarse voice, “This was a great come from behind win. A lot of our young players really picked it up and played with big-time confidence as game played out in second half. I am very happy for all the players.”
 
On Friday, the team travels to Juniata College’s for a 7:30pm game in the Juniata tournament. On Saturday, November 21, the consolation game is scheduled for 2 pm and the championship at 4 pm. Follow the website for updates as the weekend progresses.

 


Hilbert College, located in suburban Hamburg, N.Y., south of Buffalo, is a private four-year college founded in 1957 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition. With nearly 1,100 students, Hilbert is a dynamic Western New York college that offers career-focused majors, including one of the top criminal justice programs in the region, and more than 50 minors and concentrations. The college’s engaging, student-centered campus community offers numerous leadership, internship and service learning opportunities from which students launch successful careers while making positive changes in their communities. Hilbert has expanded its academic offerings with the college’s first graduate programs, one a master’s in criminal justice administration and the other a master’s in public administration, and new Accelerated Degree Programs geared to adult learners.