HAMBURG, N.Y. – Jerame Owens posted another double-double tonight but his inside presence was not enough to combat Medaille College's transition scores and success at the foul line late in the game. The Mavericks escaped with an 82-73 first-game victory in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference battle. Hilbert dropped their second game of the season and moved to 4-2 overall while Medaille (1-5) held on for their first victory.

Owens finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds, paired with three assists, two blocks and one steal. Producing his first double-figure scoring day this year was senior point guard CJ Hodge (11 points). He was matched in the scoring column by junior Trevor Stark and sophomore guard Nick Nadeau.

Medaille's Jammal Coleman came on strong in the second half finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds after going 0-for-7 in 13 first half minutes. Chris Willingham came through in the clutch for the Mavericks hitting all six late-game foul shots to starve off a Hilbert come-back.

Hilbert open the game on fire, hitting their first five shots to take an 11-2 lead. The Hawks scored one more lay-up before they went through a cold spell. Ryan Grandits knocked down a traditional three-point play giving the visitors their first lead of the game at 12:47. Nick Nadeau fought for an offensive rebound kicked it to Jalen Smith who found Nadeau floating back out to the arc. Nadeau's long shot gave Hilbert the lead back less than 15 seconds later. The Hawks built a 36-29 advantage against the Mavericks zone by splitting the guards and getting into the paint. Willingham hit a jumper with seven seconds to close the gap, 36-31, at the break.

The second half opened with each teams pounding the ball inside on their first possession. Nadeau's one-handed offensive rebound put-back gave the Hawks a seven-point lead which they added to when Xavier Major's cleared the glass and feed Nadeau at the arc for his second long-ball of the day at 17:50. The Mavericks were knocking at the door, looking to regain the lead, but Nadeau drew an offensive charge on Coleman which started a Hilbert run.

Alex Baron's three-ball at 12:47 knotted the game (50-50) and a Louie Oliveri's steal fed Coleman in transition. His two foul shots started a small spurt but Jalen Smith's three point score cut the deficit to 55-53. Both teams traded baskets keeping the score within a five point spread.

Owens found the rim at 5:10 bringing the Hawks to two points, and he followed that up with a HUGE block against Coleman who grabbed his offensive miss. Hilbert began to challenge the visitors to win at the charity stripe and Medaille closed the game hitting all ten attempts.

Hilbert shot well from the floor finishing with 47.5% field goal percentage and out-rebounded Medaille, 38-33 while grabbing 12 offensive boards. The Hawks finished with 17 second-chance points and outscored the visitors by ten in the paint. But Medaille sank ten more foul shots than Hilbert, hitting 19 vs. 9.

Hilbert hits the road this weekend for their second AMCC game when they bus to central PA for a 1pm game at Penn State Altoona December 7. Stay connected to the game via Altoona's streaming productions.