BUFFALO, N.Y. –  The Hilbert College men's basketball team suffered their first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference loss tonight after they slipped in a 97-88 Buffalo Cup game at D'Youville College.

The Hawks (3-3 overall and 0-1 AMCC) had no answers for the hot shooting Spartans (3-1, 1-0 AMCC) who didn't cool off during half time.  

Hilbert scored 60 second-half points but had too large of a deficit to overcome to pull out the win.

Hunter Martineau led the Royal and White with 21 points (9-of-11 at the foul line), and four assists. 

Masia Phillips (16 points) and Joseph Braniecki (10 points) each pulled down four offensive rebounds and shared team-high honors with five rebounds.

Keith Jackson came off the bench and poured in 17 points, hitting 6-of-11 from the field (3-of-5 behind the arc).

Javon Roberts and Dre' Turnipseed (6-for-6 from the charity stripe) led with three steals each.

D'Youville came out firing on all cylinders hitting 52.9 percent from the field (18-of-34) with a 7-for-12 conversion rate beyond the 3-point line (58.3%) in the first half while the Hawks hit only 10 of 31 field goal attempts (32.2%) and 22.2 percent (2-of-9) at the arc.

D'Youville, shooting so well from the floor, picked up 20 points off Hilbert's 11 first half turnovers and controlled the glass grabbing nine offensive rebounds off their few misses.

The Spartans took a 6-0 lead before Hilbert responded with two Joseph Braniecki free throws just three minutes into the game. Ten minutes into the half, D'Youville built a 10-point lead and stretched it to as many as 27 points over the next six and a half minutes.

Nicholas Parucki (eight points) who returned to action for the first time this fall, started a 10-3 Hilbert run.  The 6'6 forward hit a turn- around jumper in the paint and converted an old fashioned three point play the next trip down the floor.   Martineau's transition score and Ryan Hogan's long ball brought the game back to a 20-point spread (48-28) before intermission.

Hilbert started the second half playing with a passion while D'Youville tried to play up to their first half performance. 

The Hawks attacked the rim, got offensive rebounds and foul shots. Hilbert limited the Spartans by switching defenses and getting them out of their rhythm early in the half. The flow of the game just seemed as if it was going to turn in Hilbert's favor.

Keith Jackson brought the Hawks within 10 after he led a 9-0 Hilbert run at 11:54.  The rookie guard sandwiched a pair of deep makes around a three-point play in the paint.

The Spartans went on another run and stretched their lead back to 19 (81-62) with six and a half minutes left in the game.

Hilbert forced four turnovers in last five minutes and Martineau's driving layup sliced the score to under ten points (85-77) for the first time since the opening minutes of game.

But the Spartans found their shooting touch again as the seconds clicked off the clock and claimed the win.

D'Youville finished the game with a 53.1 field goal percentage and went 12-21 from the 3-point line as Hilbert converted 38.4% from the floor and hit 6-of-22 3-pointers.

The Hawks return to action this weekend with another AMCC game at Pitt-Greensburg (1-0 AMCC) December 1 at 3 pm.

Be sure to stay up-to-date on all your Hilbert Hawk 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.