HAMBURG, N.Y. – In a tightly contested game from start to finish, the Pioneers from Utica College held on to win the Hawks Against Hunger Championship game over Hilbert College in men's basketball this afternoon.

Darius Hopkins went 13-19 from the floor and picked a game-high three steals to lead the now undefeated visitors to a 78-75 victory against Hilbert, who dropped their first game in three tries.

RPI beat Waynesburg in the Consolation game (75-52).  RPI's Marcus Giese and Waynesburg's Matt Popeck joined Hilbert's Hunter Martineau and Utica's Darius Hopkins and Shawn Gashi on the 2018 All-Tournament team.

By the final horn, Masia Phillips led the Hawks in scoring reaching for 18 points and was one rebound shy of a double double. 

Freshman Dre' Turnipseed produced his first career double double after connecting on 5-of-8 from the floor, 5-of-8 at the foul line and pulled down 12 rebounds. 

Hunter Martineau drove the Hilbert offense and pace of the game.  He dished seven assists finding open men in the paint off penetration or in transition.  The junior point guard hit 50% from the floor (5-of-10) mainly in transition lay-ups which drove the Pioneers insane at times.

Joseph Braniecki, coming back from a season ending injury last year, ran for 35 minutes today, scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds as he continues to impress at the start of his senior campaign.

Each team traded buckets through the first ten minutes of action, with neither team building a larger-than-four point spread.

After Utica knotted the game at 19-19 around the nine minute, Phillips, Javon Roberts and Alex Karamanos stretched Hilbert to their largest lead (26-19) at 8:32. 

Two possessions later, the Hawks held an 8-point lead and maintained that through 4:16 after Phillips drained a 3-pointer (34-26).

The Pioneers crept back in the game and took a 38-36 lead from the foul line with just over one minute left in opening period.

Turnipseed nailed a 3-pointer from the top and gave Hilbert a 39-38 lead at intermission.

The pace and effort after the break was a mirror to the first half.

Utica hit a 3-pointer at 12:50 and lifted the orange and white to the biggest point spread in the second half (58-54).   After playing through 13 lead changes in the final period, Utica came out on top by the final horn by hitting free throws.

The Hawks dominated the glass, out rebounding Utica by a 50-29 margin.  Hilbert held a 21-6 advantage in second chance points and outscored the Pioneers 46-34 in the paint.  But the visitors from central New York stayed in the game with points off the bench, building a 40-16 edge.

Hilbert (2-1) will hit the road midweek and play at Keuka College November 20th.  They have a few days off for the Thanksgiving holiday but return to action on Saturday, November 24 with their first double header with the Hilbert women's team at Alfred State.

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.