BUFFALO, N.Y. - Hunter Martineau, Joseph Braniecki and Nicholas Parucki almost did it tonight in North Buffalo.  

The Hilbert men's basketball team suffered a heart-breaking, hard fought 99-94 overtime loss to Medaille in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference and Buffalo Cup action.

The 1-8 Hawks are a much better team than their AMCC record reveals as they fell to the 6-3 Mavericks and move to 5-11 overall on the season.

Martineau, whose last shot in regulation forced overtime, joined a magical club in Division III this winter.  His 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists earned him his very first triple double in his collegiate career although he was close to reaching that milestone earlier this season.

Braniecki finished with a season-high 23 points, hitting 11-of-16 shots from the field and Parucki tossed in 20 points, connecting on 3-of-5 shots from downtown.

Fans knew it was going to be an entertaining game when, after the Mavs built a 9-4 lead less than three minutes into the game, they witnessed the Hawks go on a 14-0 run.  

Five different players scored in that four minute span which produced back-to-back threes by Ryan Hogan and Masia Phillips and forced the hosts into a timeout at 13:12.  

Hilbert added another bucket in the paint before Medaille scored for the first time in six minutes.

Hogan notched his second long distance shot at 8:57 lifting the Royal and White back into a ten point lead (27-17).

The Mavs rallied and forced the first even score (39-39) in the game with 0:49 to go.  Martineau drained a 3-pointer nine-seconds later and gave Hilbert a 42-39 lead before the half. 

Both teams sank five 3-pointers and went to the charity stripe only four times.  The Hawks shots 48.6 percent from the field while the Mavericks had the hotter hand, hitting 53.3 percent of their shots.

Braniecki led all scorers with 12 points, sinking 6-of-9 shots from the floor.  Phillips and Hogan knocked down two deep shots each, joining Martineau from beyond the arc.

After the break, both teams traded hoops until Hilbert went 4-for-4 from the foul line extending their advantage back to nine points (52-43) at 17:01.

Medaille worked on a 6-0 run (56-51) before Parucki found his touch.   He sank back-to-back buckets, his second shot from deep giving Hilbert a 63-58 advantage (11:11).

Dre' Turnipseed converted his steal into two points and Parucki launched his second shot from downtown taking the wind out of Medaille's sails (68-60).

After Hilbert built a 14 point lead, Medaille scored eight unanswered points in a fifty-second span which created a 77-71 score and forced a Hilbert timeout.

Unfortunately for Hilbert, the Hawks went cold from the floor opening the door for Medaille to take the lead which they did -79-77.

Parucki answered back with another 3-pointer (80-79) at 3:17 but a Hawks turnover allowed Medaille another shot at the lead; they scored from deep once more, going up 82-80.

Hilbert went 1-for-2 at the foul line and then traded buckets for a one point spread.  The Mavs drained another 3, Phillips scored in the paint and Braniecki hit both free throws pulling Hilbert within one (86-87) at 0:48. 

Regulation came to a close with Martineau hitting a 3-pointer with three seconds left forcing overtime. 

After going 8-for-14 from beyond the arc in the second half, Medaille drilled back-to-back hits at the start of overtime.

Paruucki scored an old fashioned three-point play and Braniecki hit a jumper with 1:05 remaining drawing Hilbert closer (94-97) but that was a close as they got before time ran out.

Hilbert finished the 45 minute game hitting 45.5 percent from the floor, scored 9-of-23 beyond the arc and hit 15-0f-18 free throws. 

Medaille shot 55.7 percent from the field, was a blistering 15-of-26 from the 3-point land (10-15 in the final 25 minutes) and went the the charity stripe only eight times.

Hilbert grabbed 10 offensive boards and held a 35-28 edge on the glass.

Medaille's Norman Hughes killed the Hawks hitting all his shots from beyond the arc (11-15).scoring 33 points off the bench. 

The Hawks return to action this Saturday when the host the undefeated AMCC league-leaders La Roche College (9-0) January 19 at 4pm.

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.