BRADFORD, Pa. After digging out of a 15-point hole early in the first half, the Hilbert College men's basketball team pulled together for a 77-66 tough road-win at Bradford tonight.

The Hawks (17-4, 11-3) struggled at the foul line down the stretch but hung-on for their 11th AMCC victory and retains their second place in the league standings.

It took just over 13-minutes for Hilbert to take their first lead in the game when David Arlaud scored a bunny in the paint with just over four minutes left in the first half. 

Bradford opened the game with a 7-0 lead and forced a Hilbert timeout at 17:38. The Hawks couldn't find the center of the rim and quickly found themselves down by 15 (22-7) at 12:24.

Kirkland Ottey started an 18-0 run which was capped off by David Arlaud's third bucket in that span at 4:31.  Ottey and Arlaud each netted six points, Ryan Bradt hit back-to-back lay ups and Malique McCoy found the bottom of the net in that seven-minute, lop-sided run.

The Hawks built their largest first-half lead of four before Bradford's Eric Matheson knocked down a long three-pointer at the buzzer and forced the first tie in the game as the teams headed to the locker rooms knotted at 31-31.

Both teams traded hoops the first three minutes of the second half until Arlaud scored consecutive shots which gave the Hawks a 4-point advantage at 16:13.  Nehemiah Kornegay returned to action, and combining with Xavier Major's made freebies, extend the Hawks lead to eight points at 12:25 (47-39).

A Hawk turnover and then missed shot on their next offensive possession opened the door for the Panthers, who wrapped around and snuck in the middle of Hilbert's negative possessions, three shots all within 5 feet of the basket (51-47).  After a Hilbert timeout, Ottey scored in the paint then hit a long three to stretch their lead back to nine (56-47).

Sean Weisansal then hit a streaking McCoy who laid the ball in for Hilbert's second double-digit lead in the second half 65-54 with 3:54 remaining.   Things were looking good for Hilbert after they found themselves in the double-bonus with over three-minutes left in the game.

But with 1:20 on the game clock, Hilbert combined for a dismal 2-10 at the foul line and squeaked-out the win.

Kirkland Ottey led the Hawks with 17 points and seven assists while Malique McCoy connected on six-of-seven shots from the field to add 14 points.

Jerame Owens produced his ninth double-double of the year with 12 points and 11 rebounds and David Arlaud rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11.

Hilbert finished with a 51% field goal performance but sank only 11 of 27 free throws.  Bradford was completely opposite at the line, as they hit 16 of 18 attempts.

Eric Mateson (26 points, 9-10 at the foul line) and Evan Greening (21 points, 18 rebounds) led the Panthers who fell to 7-13 and 6-7 in the league.

Hilbert travels to Pittsburgh this weekend as they face the Redhawks from La Roche.  The men's rematch game will impact the league standings and has been selected as the AMCC Game of the Week.