STEUBENVILLE, Oh. – After a very shaky opening twenty minutes of action, the Hilbert College men's basketball team rallied together in the second half and rebounded for their second consecutive victory this week.
Hilbert's deep bench helped the Hawks improve to 6-5 overall and evened their AMCC record at 3-3 after their 81-69 road win at Franciscan University this afternoon.
Jalen Smith earned game-high scoring honors with 22 points hitting an impressive 12 of 13 free throw attempts in 35 minutes of action.
Kirkland Ottey was consistent from the floor, knocking down 3-of-4 from behind the 3-point line and 4 of 6 at the charity stripe to add 17 points.
Derrek Carman was one point short of another double-double after he grabbed 11 rebounds (five offensive) and scored nine points.
Joseph Braniecki and
Hunter Martineau added eight points each while Martineau distributed for six of the Hawks' nine total assists.
Hilbert was executing and hitting from the field early as they reached an 11-6 score less than six minutes into play. Martineau's 3-point shot at 13:29 gave the Hawks their largest lead in the half (16-8) before Hilbert's shooting touch cooled.
Three missed shots from the royal and white converted into 22-22 tie at 8:36 and a back and forth battle the rest of the half.
Joseph Braniecki knocked down a pair of free throws to tilt the score in Hilbert's favor before half time. The Hawks played through four lead changes and four ties to take a 37-35 lead into the break.
Ottey scored a layup on Hilbert's opening possession at the start of the second half and kept the Hawks in the lead from that point forward. Smith sank all three free throw attempts at 13:34 which built a 51-44 score but after the Barons got in the paint for two points, Hilbert stretched their legs and put more points on the board.
Masia Phillips score six straight points to padded Hilbert's lead to 11 (57-46) and that was it for the hosts. Ottey hit back-to-back deep shots and added one of two from the charity stripe which gave the Hawks their largest lead, 67-51.
Hilbert went 10-for-10 from the foul line with Smith credited with six of those conversations to close the game with a win.
The Hawks finished with a 46.2% field goal percentage and went 7-for-16 from the 3-point line. They scored 26 of their 38 free throw attempts and grabbed 11 offensive rebounds (39 total). Franciscan trailed in FG% (40.6%), hit 8-of-19 behind the arc and took only 16 free throws with nine makes. The Barons pulled down 35 rebounds, 12 on the offensive glass.
Hilbert can now take a few weeks off to enjoy their families over the holiday break. They return to action January 4 when they travel to Nazareth College for an 8pm tip in Rochester.
