ALTOONA, Pa. – The Hilbert College men's basketball team ran into a hot-shooting opponent this afternoon as the Hawks suffered a 95-89 AMCC defeat to Penn State Altoona.

Altoona (11-6, 7-3) converted 54.2% (13-of-24) of their 3-point shots which downed the Hawks (11-6, 8-3) in their third league loss this season.

Freshman Antonio Alvarez posted his first career double-double collecting 20 points and 19 rebounds, yet his overall effort set him apart today.  He finished with five steals, three blocks and seven offensive rebounds.

Hunter Martineau added 15 points and his 14 assists helped set up his team mates for buckets all day.

But it was Nicholas Parucki who led the Hawks with 26 points off the bench.  The 6-6 lefty also added five offensive rebounds (6 total) and two blocks on defense.

Masia Phillips chipped in 14 points and three assists.

Altoona jumped ahead with a 13-0 lead to open the game which forced a Hilbert time out at 15:43.   In that time frame, the Hawks missed their first 10 shots from the floor and tuned the ball over four times.  

Alvarez put two points on the board for the royal and white who rallied to tie game at 13-13 just two and a half minutes later.  Altoona missed their next shot and the Hawks took their first lead in the game (15-13) at 12:21.

Alvarez (7 points), Parucki (7) and Joseph Braniecki lifted Hilbert while the Hawks defense limited the Lions to only one shot per possession, grabbing each defensive rebound.

Each team traded leads until Hilbert went on another run with Alvarez and Tyler Aquilina stretching the difference to six points, 22-16 (at 10:55) in the Hawks favor.

It was a three-pointer that put the Lions in control again and they rode that focus from the 3-point arc till half time.  Altoona connected on six more shots from down town as they built a 54-37 advantage after 20 minutes. 

The hosts shot 59.5% from the floor but it was their 8-of-12 (66.7%) from beyond the arc which did the damage.  Hilbert connected on 34.1% of their field goal attempts sinking 4-of-10 from deep.

At 17:15 in the second half, Altoona led, 61-41.  Then the Hawks went on their traditional run after intermission.

Parucki (6) and Martineau (4) sliced the deficit to 11 points (53-64 at 13:38) before Alvarez made things interesting again. 

The freshman guard was credited with two steals,  two offensive rebounds and a tip-in score as well as a three-point field goal gutting the Hawks into a six-point game (58-64) at 12:38.

Aquilina (3-pointer) and David Arlaud scored in the paint, which kept it a 3-point spread just prior to Altoona splitting their two free throws.

Martineau scored his only 3-pointer in the game continuing the come-back (68-69) but the Lions reached from beyond the arc again.  Each team traded points before Parucki posted his second 3- pointer of the game at 6:54 keeping it a one-point game.

Altoona still had their shooter's touch as they hit two more 3's and held an 82-77 lead at 5:06.  They extended their lead to nine (91-82) with 1:23 left in the game, but Hilbert continued to push.  Unfortunately by that time in the game, the clock became Hilbert's enemy.

Hilbert won the battle on the glass, with a 53-41 advantage, and their effort on the offensive end set the Hawks ahead.  Hilbert earned 23 offensive rebounds which they converted into 18 second-chance points.

Hilbert continues with another road game next week.  They will travel to North Buffalo for their second match against Medaille January 24.  The Hawks claimed the first win in Hamburg (84-80) in early December.

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.