PITTSBURGH, Pa - The Hilbert College men's basketball team suffered an 81-66 loss to undefeated La Roche College (8-1, 5-0 ) in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference action this afternoon.

The Hawks (4-7, 0-5) started fast matching the league-leaders offensive effort early, but they  weren't able to contain the Redhawks for 40 minutes.

Hunter Martineau posted team-high honors with 15 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists, two blocks and three steals.

Nicholas Parucki came off bench to toss in 13 points and Joseph Braniecki went 4-for-4 from the foul line adding 10 points.  

Hilbert controlled the pace of the game in the opening minutes.  All five starters scored from the floor before Joseph Braniecki dunked his second bucket of the game.  

Things were looking good for Hilbert when Parucki hit a deep 3 lifting the Hawks (15-10) at 14:38. Martineau's free throw gave the Royal and White a six point lead seconds later but that spread was wiped away with a pair of Redhawk shots from downtown.  

Zac Cowell knotted the game (18-18) just prior to La Roche's reach from deep on their next trip down the floor.

Braniecki hit another shot in the paint forcing an even game, 21-all, but the Hawks went cold sinking only one of eight shots that followed. 

Masia Phillips and Parucki trimmed the score to three (30-27) before the Redhawks hit two 3-pointers and a lay up to stretch the difference back to 11 points.

The Hawks rallied before half time and went to the locker room down, 38-34.

Alex Karamanos (four points) and Dre' Turnipseed got the Hawks right back in the game at 18:38 knotting the game at 40-40.

The Redhawks were very efficient offensively making the most out of every possession and found their way to a 10-point advantage with 14 minutes left in the game.

Hilbert wasn't able to trim the difference to under ten and battled to stay in the game the rest of the way. 

Martineau posted the double-double collecting 10 points and 10 assists with 4:36 left in the game.  But he came up empty on the glass the final minutes falling two rebounds shy of notching a triple double. 

La Roche finished hitting 45.2% from the floor, knocked down 11 3-pointers, grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and nine blocked shots.

Hilbert hit 36.2% from the floor, made one 3-pointer, grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and were credited with seven steals.

The Hawks returns to action this week Tuesday, December 18 when they host No. 25 Middlebury College in the Hafner Recreation Center.  Fans don't forget this is a mid-day 3pm tip.

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 Hilbert College Hawks iOS SideArm mobile App which can be found in the Apple Store and in ITunes.