Newsline  

Hilbert Basketball Players Receive Post-Season Honors

Release Date:
March 4, 2004
Contact:
The Office of Sports Information
(716) 649-7900 ext. 333

HAMBURG, N.Y. – Men’s basketball player Sam Gioia (W. Seneca West/West Seneca, NY) and women’s basketball players Amanda Smolarek (Villa Maria/Lancaster, NY) and Autumn Lee-Jeffries (Holy Angels/Buffalo, NY) were named All-North Eastern Athletic Conference selections for their performances during the 2003-04 basketball season.

Gioia, a 5’9” junior guard, was named to the All-NEAC first team after averaging 15 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game to lead the Hawks to a 5-21 record.  In the Hawks 91-84 loss to Cazenovia College, Gioia broke the school record for assists in a career and now has 291 assists in his career.

Smolarek, a 5’10” senior forward, was named to the All-NEAC first team after averaging 10.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 2 steals per game to lead the Lady Hawks to an 11-15 record and an appearance in the NEAC championship game. Smolarek ends the season as Hilbert’s career leader in points (1086), rebounds (982), and steals (117).

Lee-Jeffries, a 6’1” sophomore forward, was named to the All-NEAC second team after averaging 7.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.3 blocked shots per game.  Lee-Jeffries broke her own record for blocked shots in a season with 85 and holds the career record with 147 in two years. Lee-Jeffries is currently ranked 11th nationally in blocked shots per game among NCAA Division III women’s basketball players.


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.