HAMBURG, N.Y. – The Hilbert College men's basketball team started the 2018-19 off on the right foot.  The Hawks earned a hard fought 77-74 non-conference victory over the Wolverines from Grove City College as both teams tested the water for the first time this season.

Hunter Martineau led the Hawks with 20 points hitting 7-of-10 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the foul line.  His only miss at the charity stripe was an attempt to end the game with .5 seconds on the clock.  The junior point guard also earned game high honors with eight assists as his teammates shot 45.6% from the floor.

Freshman Keith Jackson chipped in 16 points and made all six free throws in his rookie debut.

Freshman Dre' Turnipseed had a solid game while scoring eight points, posted team high six rebounds and dished for a pair of assists.

The Hawks won the game at the foul line though hitting 22-of-27 attempts.

Grove City sank 30-of-50 from the floor (55.6%) but only attempted 12 free throws finishing with nine makes.

Both teams traded hoops for the first 11 minutes of action before Hilbert broke a 20-20 tie with a Zac Cowell jumper in the paint and a pair of freebie at the line by Keith Jackson.

The Hawks maintained the edge through intermission and held a 44-37 lead by the break.

Grove City came out in the second half and used a match-up zone to slow Hilbert's transition but the Hawks found their range behind the line with back-to-back deep shots by Martineau and Ryan Hogan.  Hilbert held a 54-45 lead with 14:24 to go.

Grove City battled back to a 60-60 score less than six minutes later and forced another tie score (66-66) at 5:10.

Martineau finished his personal five-point run with a transition lay-up and a three-point play.  Cowell stretched the lead back to seven points with 3:25 left.

Grove City showed life by hitting a 3-pointer but the Hawks broke the full court pressure on the next possession and fed Joseph Braniecki who posted the first Hilbert dunk of the season.  The Wolverines answered right back with their own dunk 10-seconds later and then hit a deep three in front of their bench to pull within one (75-74 @ 1:21). 

Martineau calmly sank a pair from the charity stripe with 19-seconds remaining and made a trip back with .5 seconds on the game clock.

He missed the front-end of the 1 and 1 and the ball bounced on the floor with no one gaining possession as the horn sounded.  The call on the floor was jump ball, change of possession from the clock malfunction, the Wolverines took the ball out under their hoop.  Time ran out before they could launch a desperation three hoping to force overtime.

Hilbert (1-0) returns to action this weekend when they host their 9th Annual Hawks Against Hunger Tip Off Tournament Friday and Saturday, November 16 and 17.  The Hawks will battle Waynesburg at 8pm while RPI and Utica tip at 6pm.

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.