ERIE, Pa. – The Hilbert College men's basketball team matched efforts with Penn State Behrend the first 20-minutes of action, but weren't able to keep pace with the Lions during the second half and fell in an important 69-58 AMCC road game.
Behrend (13-1, 8-1) stayed in first place after their stifling defensive effort held the Hawks to 30-points under their scoring average. Hilbert posted their lowest shooting percentage (.344) and collected their fewest made baskets (21).
Hilbert (13-3, 7-2) surrendered 41 2nd half points to the Lions who extended their four-point lead with just under 3-minutes remaining to the 11-point final margin, most of them earned at the charity stripe.
In a very evenly played first half, Hilbert was never able to stretch more than four-points ahead of the hosts, while Behrend found a six-point lead at 5:36 (21-15).
Ryan Bradt (4 points) and
Kyle Kline brought the Hawks even at 21-21 at 3:47 and then each team traded buckets until the half time horn.
Jerame Owens set
Malique McCoy up with a 3-point bucket to lift the Hawks 28-25, but Behrend responded with their own long ball with four-seconds remaining sending the game to intermission exactly where they started the game, tied.
Behrend jumped out to an early 7-point lead before
Jalen Smith dialed up from downtown at 16:22 (37-33). After trailing by 10 points, the Hawks hit back-to-back 3-pointers (Smith and
Sean Weisansal) and Weisansal tacked on two more at the foul line to cut the difference to two points at 12:20. Hilbert went cold and Behrend stretched the difference back to nine points and held on for the home win.
Jalen Smith was the only Hawk to post double-figures as he shot 50% from beyond the arc to collect 16 points.
Ryan Bradt added nine points and nine rebounds (five offensive) off the bench while
Sean Weisansal,
Jerame Owens (eight rebounds) and
Kirkland Ottey each chipped in eight points.
Hilbert returns to action at home this Thursday when they host cross-town rival Medaille College (6-10, 4-5) at 6pm. Earlier in the season, the Hawks claimed a 72-67 road win in North Buffalo.
