Hamburg, N.Y. – Hilbert freshman Lazar Jovanovich netted a career-high 30 points and added seven rebounds, while senior guard Masia Phillips posted 22 points and five rebounds to lead the Hawks to a hard fought 99-90 AMCC victory over Penn State Altoona.

THE BASICS

• Final Score: Hilbert 99 Penn State Altoona 90
• Location: Hafner Recreation Center, Hilbert College 1pm
• Records: Hilbert 10-2 (6-1 AMCC) | Penn State Altoona 7-4 (3-4 AMCC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• There was a lot of back and forth play early on with both teams trading baskets over the initial five minutes of action before Masia Phillips drained a three to put the Hawks up 15-13 at the 14:45 mark of the first half.
• After another Hawks basket, Jack Kusters drained a three to cut the lead to one. Phillips followed with a pair of free throws and on the following possession, Lazar Jovanovich stole an errant pass and broke free for a thunderous dunk to put Hilbert up 21-16.
• After each team traded threes, Hunter Martineau found Jovanovich in the corner for an open three to extend the Hilbert lead to eight with 7:17 remaining in the half.
• Altoona swung the momentum in their favor from there, going on a 12-0 run over the next three and a half minutes of play, taking advantage of poor shooting from Hilbert, to take a 40-36 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the opening half.
• The Hawks offense was unable to score a field goal for just over 4 minutes of action, before Kyreese Fisher sunk a jumper in the paint to ignite the Hilbert offense once again.
• Hilbert ended the half on a 7-3 run, capped off by a Jon Evans basket in the paint, to go into the intermission up 48-43.
• Both teams came out of the break on fire offensively, as both teams knocked down field goals on each of their first three possessions. The two teams combined for 25 points over the first four minutes of action before the defenses were able to settle in.
• After a few minutes of back and forth play, Hunter Martineau was able to find Lazar Jovanovich for another big three to put the Hawks up five with just under 15 minutes remaining in the game.
• Just two possessions later, Martineau found Jovanovich after ripping down a defensive board to spark another fast break dunk for the freshman forward, his second of the game.
• Altoona answered with a pair of buckets before Jon Evans had a strong finish at the hoop while getting hacked to spark a 3-point play, putting the Hawks up 73-67 with just under 10 minutes to play.
• Andruw Harman matched Evans 3-point play on the following possession for the Lions with a nice drive to the basket. Jack Custers followed that up with a three from long range to cut the Hilbert lead to 75-73 less than a minute later.
• Both teams traded baskets over the next couple minutes before Austin Krise had a nice 3-point play of his own to make it a one point game with just over six minutes remaining.
• With Altoona breathing down their neck, Hilbert turned to their senior guard Masia Phillips late to close it out. Phillips responded with seven straight points for the royal and white, capped off with a dagger of a three to put the Hawks up 93-87 with under three minutes to go.
• Hilbert then made some big stops on the defensive end and senior Hunter Martineau hit some key free throws in the closing minutes to seal the victory.
• Lazar Jovanovich led all scorers with a career-high 30 points, while senior Hunter Martineau led the Hawks with a team-high eight rebounds and dished out a team-high 11 assists. Freshman Kyreese Fisher added a pair of steals.
• Jack Kusters led all Altoona scorers with a team-high 23 points and dished out a team-high four assists, while forward Cameron Gardner-Nicholson led the Lions with a 12 rebounds and two blocked shots.

GAME NOTES

• The Lions dominated the scoring down low, outscoring the Hawks 54-34 in the paint.
• Hilbert's bench and free throw shooting were the keys to victory, as the Hawks bench outscored Altoona's bench 59-16 with Jovanovich and Phillips providing 52 of the 59 bench points. The Hawks also outscored the Lions at the free throw line by a 23-11 margin.
• Hilbert finished the game shooting 33 of 62 (53.2%) from the floor, including 10 of 24 (41.7%) from 3-point range and finished 23 of 32 (71.9%) from the free throw line.   
• Altoona shot 36 of 73 (49.3%) from the floor, including 7 of 27 from the 3-point line (25.9%), while going 11 of 22 (50.0%) from the charity stripe.  

WHAT'S NEXT

The Hawks hit the road Saturday as they head to Cresson, Pa. to take on the Mount Aloysius Mounties in an AMCC contest beginning at 1pm.

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