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Hawks Keep Tournament Hopes Alive with Road Victory

Release Date:
February 12, 2005
Contact:
The Office of Sports Information
(716) 649-7900 ext. 333

February 12, 2005

 

FROSTBURG, Md. – After getting down by as many as 12 points in the first half, the Hilbert College men’s basketball team rallied to defeat the Frostburg State Bobcats on Saturday afternoon, 80-69.  With the victory, Hilbert College improves to 9-14 overall, and 7-9 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference play.  The previous night, the Hawks took on the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, and lost 93-47.

 

On Friday night, the Bobcats of Pitt-Greensburg jumped out to a huge lead, and put the game away early.  The Hawks shot a dismal 25% from the field in the first half, as Pitt-Greensburg limited them to 17 first-half points, en route to a 47-17 lead at the break.  Pitt-Greensburg outrebounded Hilbert 25-10 in the first half, and shot 61% from the floor.

 

The second half was much of the same, as Pitt-Greensburg continued their dominance and ran away with the game.  UPG’s Matthew Russell had a game-high 14 points in the victory.  For Hilbert, Dominic Miller (Niagara Falls, NY/West Seneca West) was the lone scorer in double figures with 13 points.  Hilbert’s leading scorer, Sam Gioia (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca West), was limited to 5 points on 1-of-8 shooting from the floor.

 

Saturday afternoon saw the Hawks travel to Frostburg, Maryland with their playoff hopes on the line.  The Bobcats of Frostburg State got out of the gates quickly, and a David Quay lay-in with 7:22 remaining in the first half pushed their lead to 29-17.  Hilbert responded with a quick 7-0 run, and kept the game close for the rest of the half. 

 

Down 39-38 to begin the second half, Hilbert took their first lead since the 14:23 mark of the first half on a Michael Reyes (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon) three-pointer, giving Hilbert a 49-47 advantage.  Sophomore Glen Ufland (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon) would score eight out of the next 10 points for the Hawks, as their lead grew to six points, 59-53, with 12:14 remaining in the game. 

 

The game remained close, with Hilbert’s lead never reaching double figures until the final seconds of the game.  The Hawks’ Gioia scored the games final five points to seal the victory.

 

Ufland led the Hawks with 22 points, including six three-pointers.  Gioia scored 19 points off the bench for Hilbert.  Marcus McIntyre led Frostburg State with 14 points and nine rebounds.

 

With the victory, the Hawks remain in the hunt for an AMCC conference tournament birth.  Currently, the Hawks sit in seventh place with a 7-9 conference record.  The top six teams advance to the conference tournament.  Hilbert College will continue their season at home on Friday, February 18 against Penn State Altoona.  The game is scheduled for a 8:00 PM start.


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.