BUFFALO, N.Y. –The Hilbert College men's basketball team earned their second Buffalo Cup victory tonight taking a 98-88 road Allegheny Mountain Collegiate victory from D'Youville College.  Earlier this year the Hawks beat Medaille College which gives the men's program two points in the cross-town, three-way friendly competition.

The Hawks improved to 10-5 overall and moved to 7-2 (3rd place) after concluding the first half of the series against the nine other AMCC opponents.  D'Youville fell to 2-5 in the league and 5-8 overall.

The first 20 minutes of action were tight.  D'Youville took an early lead in the game only to battle the Hawks push for points.  D'Youville held their largest lead in the first half (30-25) after just over ten minutes of play. 

Hilbert forced eight tied-score situations and yet the Spartans responded with each Hawk fly-by.   

Joseph Braniecki and David Arlaud finished inside the lane and Tyler Aquilina struck from downtown which lifted Hilbert 32-30 with eight minutes left before the half.

The Hawks then built a seven point lead (41-34) but watched it disappear as the hosts went on an 8-0 run, regaining the lead (42-41) with just under four minutes on the game clock.

Antonio Alvarez' seven-point swing helped Hilbert close the period outscoring D'Youville 10-2 setting a 51-44 score at intermission.

Hilbert opened the second half with back-to-back buckets and built a double-digit lead which they maintained for most of the second half.  Masia Phillips' three-point play stretched the score to 16 points and gave Hilbert their largest lead in the game (67-51).

The Spartans sliced the score to eight points on multiple occasions in the final ten minutes of play, but the Hawks knocked down their free throws to secure the win.

Masia Phillips reached for 24 points behind 8-of-15 from the floor and 7-of-9 at the foul line.  He added six assists and two steals in 35 minutes of action. 

Antonio Alvarez had a hot hand, hitting 9-of-11 from the field and shared game-high rebounding honors with Joseph Braniecki (three blocks) as they each grabbed 10 boards.

Hunter Martineau followed with 19 points, hitting 9-of-11 at the charity stripe down the stretch, and dished for another eight assist game.  Nicholas Parucki posted 10 points shooting better than 50% from the floor.  Anthony Buisch, who earned his first collegiate start, was perfect from the floor, reaching for five points and one assist.

Hilbert won the battle on the boards (40-32) and closed the game hitting 36-of-61 field goals (59%) and 5-of-10 beyond the arc.  The Hawks outscored D'Youville 21 to 11 at the foul line in a game where they were a combined 46 fouls called on both teams.

Hilbert returns to the Hafner this Wednesday and begins round two of the AMCC portion of the schedule.  They welcome Bradford (2-13, 1-8) in a 6pm contest.

Be sure to stay up-to-date on all your Hilbert Hawks scores and awards by following @HilbertAthletic on Twitter and by liking the "Hilbert College Athletics" Facebook page.  Additionally fans of the Hawks who have an Apple device can receive push notification from the newly created Hilbert College Hawks iOS SIDEARM mobile App which can be found in the Apple Store and ITunes.