HAMBURG, N.Y. – The Hilbert College men's basketball team lost the battle of the boards to La Roche College this afternoon resulting in a 78-65 defeat to the Redhawks in the Hafner Rec Center.

The Hawks (8-5) remained in 5th place in the Allegheny Mountain College Conference  while the Redhawks stayed in a two-way tie with Penn State Behrend at 11-1.

La Roche opened the game fast building a 7-point lead early.  Hunter Martineau started and finished the six-point swing for Hilbert who forced a 21-all score at 8:06.  The Hawks kept it a one-to-two possession game until La Roche closed the first half on a four-point run setting a 38-31 half time score.

Masia Phillips led Hilbert with 11 first half points and Antonio Alvarez was credited with six rebounds (three offensive).

The Redhawks held a three-board advantage by the break (26-23) but they dominated in stretches in the second half and finished with a 17-rebound advantage on the glass. 

Twice Hilbert was able to cut the difference down to three-points; Nicholas Parucki hit a jumper at 19:14   and Antonio Alvarez' 3-point shot at 17:07 got Hilbert as close as they'd to get the rest of the way.

The Redhawks grabbed three offensive rebounds on the same possession and finished that cycle with a 3-point bomb that built a 15-point advantage with just under nine minutes left in the game.

Parucki and Phillips each netted 15 points and Alvarez finished with nine points and led the Hawks with nine rebounds.

Hilbert returns to action this week when they host their final non-conference game of the season.  Alfred State returns to the Hafner Center January 31 for 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.