HAMBURG, N.Y. – Penn State Altoona forced the pace of the game early and after they hit their first jumper, the Hilbert College men's basketball team had to play catch-up the final 39 minutes of the game.

The Lions claimed an 87-78 road win over the Hawks behind 50 percent field goal shooting while limiting the Hawks to 41.2%.  Both teams stat-lines are similar except for the FG% and FT%.

Jalen Smith led the Hawks with 23 points behind four 3-pointers and Derrek Carman added 15 points hitting 50% of his attempts from the floor. Carman and Joseph Braniecki cleared the boards for seven and six rebounds, respectively.  Hunter Martineau dished for three assists and swiped three steals.

Nicholas Parucki (14 points, 50%FG) and Masia Phillips (10) finished the double-digit performances for Hilbert this afternoon.

The Lions got 23 points from Jordan Smith, all in the paint (11-14) and 22 points from Anton Lucas several off fast break lay-ins.

The Hawks trailed by 14 points with 11:55 on the clock, cut the deficit to 22-12 thanks to a Smith three-pointer at 10:38.  But two minutes later it was a 17 point game again until Smith and Carmen combined for 14 of Hilbert's 18-6 run with 3:48 remaining (35-30).   The Lions stretched their lead back to 11 points before they settled in for a 47-40 advantage at the break.  

Parucki hit back-to-back jumpers cutting the difference to six points twice inside the first five minutes of the second half, but that was as close as the Hawks were able to get.

Hilbert (9-8, 6-5) returns to their home court for their next AMCC game against Medaille College Wednesday, January 25.  The Hawks are looking to knock-off the Mavericks in a Buffalo Cup game beginning at 8pm.