ERIE, Pa. – The Hilbert College men's basketball team, after rallying back in both sessions, suffered a hard-fought 69-68 defeat at the hands of Penn State Behrend.   The Lions were hot from beyond the three-point arc and escaped with the win as time ran out for the Hawks at the end of regulation.

Kirkland Ottey hit 50-percent of his 3-point shots to carry Hilbert with 18 points while Jalen Smith came off the bench and tossed in 14 points.  Hunter Martineau added 11 points and was one assist away from a double-double running the team for 36 minutes.

Ottey, Smith and Martineau's shooting touch from downtown pushed Hilbert ahead at different points in the game but Behrend responded with timely 3-point shots and  improved to 10-4, 5-2 AMCC.

Behrend built an early lead in the first half thanks to their proficient 3-point shooting.  The Lions held a 21-9 advantage behind five consecutive long-distance ringers with 11:20 left. Jalen Smith connected from behind the arc and started a Hilbert run that lasted eight minutes.     

Ottey dialed-up his second 3-pointer prior to Nicholas Parucki's 6-0 run which sliced the score to 25-22 at 5:23.  Joseph Braniecki dove to the box and  Martineau feed him a perfect pass which made it a one-point game (25-24), but the Lions found their touch again and hit their 5th three-point shot to stretch the score 28-24.

With 2:45 remaining, Masia Phillips short jumper in transition gave Hilbert their first lead 28-27.   That lead was short lived as Behrend tallied a pair of free throws and consecutive lay ups before Hunter Martineau's strike from the baseline  sent the Hawks to the locker room up 33-31.

Ottey led all scorers with 10 points while Martineau and Derrek Carman worked for five rebounds each after 20 minutes of play.

Behrend hit a pair of quick, 3-point shots right after intermission and built a four-point  advantage but Ottey and Martineau combined for a run, matching Behrend on the score board (39-39).

Smith added three points off an 'and-one' at 9:34 cutting the difference to one point (47-46) just before Behrend stretched it again off a bomb from behind the line.

Both teams traded buckets until Behrend went on a 5-0 run setting the score 59-52 with 5:29 left.

After a long, cold stretch, Jalen Smith hit a three pointer off transition,slicing the difference back to a 2-point game (61-59) with just under 3-minutes left.

Smith knotted the game at 62-all with an unexpected shot from behind the line and the crowd went wild.

The Lions drove the lane and combined a layup with a free throw and tilted the score back in their favor.  But Ottey posted another '3' to force the game's 3rd tie with 1:20 left.

On their next possession, Behrend got a bucket from the block going back up by two points (67-65) only to be followed by Ottey's impressive attack.  He drove from right baseline, drew the foul, scored the bucket and gave Hilbert their third lead in the game - 68-67.

With 0:32 on the clock, the Lions connected off a high / low pass creating a one on one at the defensive arc for a easy lay up to retake the lead.  The Hawks ran out of time before they could even get a final shot off for the win. 

Nicholas Parucki added 13 points as the fourth Hilbert player to reach double digits.

The Hawks finished the game hitting 45.8 percent of their field goals and 43.8% from 3-point (7-16).  Hilbert collected 34 rebounds and went 7-of-9 at the foul line.  Behrend ended with a 49.1% from the field and made 8-of-21 three-point shots.  The Lions were 7-of-12 at the charity strip. 

With just a few days to prepare, Hilbert will head to central PA for their next AMCC game at Mt. Aloysius (2-12, 2-5) .  The Hawks (7-7, 4-4) tip at 3pm in Cresson.