HAMBURG, N.Y. – The Hilbert College men's basketball team out-lasted Pitt-Bradford's late-game rally as the Hawks earned a 78-73 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference win against the visiting Panthers.

Hilbert, 11-5 overall, retained their 3rd place standings in the league (8-2) and are positioned just below PS Behrend and La Roche who sit in a tie (8-1) after the Redhawks took down the Lions (68-48) in Pittsburgh this evening.

Antonio Alvarez, who had a hot hand in the first half, finished with 18 points (eight rebounds) which led three Hawks who posted double figure scoring.  Joseph Braniecki added 14 points and three assists while Hunter Martineau reached for 10 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double.

David Arlaud was also one point away from reaching a double-double has he collected 10 rebounds and nine points (two blocks).

Hilbert raced to a 43-32 half time lead behind 51.3% field goal shooting along with 7-for-8 from the charity stripe.  Alvarez posted 15 points (6-of-7) in the 15 minutes of action and Martineau earned all four of his assists by intermission.

The Hawks' offensive production suffered in the second half as they hit only 11 of 30 shots from the floor (36.7%), missed all three 3-pointers and converted only 13-of-18 at the foul line.

Just five minutes into the second half, Hilbert stretched their lead to 18 points (52-34) and maintained a double-digit lead for the next five minutes. Bradford sliced it to a seven point game but the Hawks responded and David Arlaud's two freebies brought the difference back to 12-points.

At 2:37 Bradford made it a one-point game (67-66) but Braniecki's two makes the foul line along with a Jonathan Jackson jumper paired with Masia Phillips  lay-up gave the Hawks some breathing room to pull out the win.  

By the final horn, Hilbert dominated the glass outrebounding the Panthers 52-28.  The Hawks turned their 18 offensive rebounds into 20 second-chance points and limited Bradford to only five offensive rebounds for the game.

Hilbert returns to the road this weekend when they battle Penn State Altoona (10-6, 6-3) January 20.  The Hawks earned a 74-71 victory over the Lions in 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.