Mount Aloysius Box La Roche Box
HAMBURG, NY – The Hilbert College men’s basketball team took to the road over the weekend and returned with a split-decision in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference results. The Hawks suffered a tough 85-82 loss at Mount Aloysius January 5 and rebounded with a nail-biting 73-71 victory over La Roche College the next afternoon. Hilbert improved to 10-3 overall and stands at 4-2 in AMCC standings, which places them in an early season three-way tie for second place.
Anthony Hodge earned game high scoring honors (23 points) to lead five Hawks who reached double-figure scoring. Jerame Owens tallied his second double-double of the year, scoring a season high 17 points while pulling 11 rebounds (seven offensive). Scoring 13 points were CJ Hodge and Dan McFarland while Isaac Bushey added 12 for the Hawks. The blue and white continued with their thievery, swiping 12 steals as a team while Owens was credited for all five of Hilbert’s block shots on defense.
Hilbert and Mount Aloysius battled all afternoon. Both teams shared or traded the lead on 13 separate occasions during the first half. The Hawks built a ten point lead after Anthony Hodge scored a layup at 11:35. The Mounties chipped away at the lead until they found themselves on top by three at half time.
It appeared that Hilbert was on the verge of pulling away from Mount Aloysius with just under six minutes left after they built an eight point lead (77-69). The Mounties scored a layup, two free throws and hit a 3-point shot the tie the game at 78 (3:35). Then, after each team traded a few baskets, the Mounties closed the game with three made free throws, escaping with the important win.
Less than twenty-four hours later, the Hawks were back at it squaring off against La Roche College in Pittsburgh. Dan McFarland earned his second double-double this season after netting 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds against the RedHawks. Trevor Stark found his shooters touch again knocking down eight of his twelve attempts to earn game high scoring honors with 19 points. Jerame Owens hit for 14 points and four assists, while Anthony Hodge added 11 points.
La Roche jumped to a 39-28 half time lead after making six three-point shots and shooting 50% from the floor and 100% at the foul line while holding Hilbert to 34% field goal shooting. The RedHawks continued their steady play during the first five minutes into the second half.
Stark and Owens scored six points each in the Hawks’ 21-9 run over the next eight minutes which knotted the game at 59-59 (6:25). The offensive push continued with Stark netting twice before McFarland’s layup and Owens’ traditional three-point play gave the Hawks their largest lead of the game at 3:48 (69-63). La Roche forced the game’s fourth tie with 1:16 on the clock before Anthony Hodge sank a layup after Hilbert’s timeout which gave the visitors the lead again. The Hawks survived going into an overtime period after La Roche missed all three shots they attempted in the final seconds of the game.
Hilbert hits the road again January 9 to square off against Pitt-Bradford. The Hawks return to campus this weekend when they host Pitt-Greensburg January 12 with a 4pm tip.