ERIE, Pa – The Hilbert College men's basketball team extended their season for another day!

The Hawks move on into the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championship game against Penn State Behrend after their exciting 80-77 semi-final victory over Medaille College February 28 in the Junker Center on Behrend's campus.   Jerame Owens helped seal the deal when he stole an inbounds pass late in the game and converted both shots at the foul line.

Hilbert (21-6) will play in their first AMCC championship game (in any sport) against the host Lions (21-4).  Additionally, the Hawks have earned the program's first 21-win season in the AMCC era of Division III basketball.

All nine Hawks added points to the scoreboard tonight.  Jerame Owens led the winners with 21 and 11 rebounds earning his 14th double-double this season, and he connected on 9 of 10 free throws.  Trevor Stark and Jalen Smith each chipped in 13 points with Stark dishing a game-high six assists while Smith finished shooting 50% from the floor.

Xavier Major gave another complete game adding nine points and 10 rebounds.  His six offensive caroms were game-changers as his hustle on the glass helped give Hilbert 12 more looks at the hoop than the Mavericks.  Sean Weisansal turned the tide on Medaille at times with his positive energy giving Hilbert lifts when they needed it most.  The sophomore posted eight points but those seemed to arrive at just the right time.

Medaille's starting five plus one reserve off the bench scored all the Maverick points. Jammal Coleman led with 23, hitting 10 of 11 shots from the foul line.  Robby Seyler was on fire and finished with 16 points while Ryan Grandits and Cooper Calzonetti added 13 each.

Hilbert held advantages in several game statistics but it was Medaille's 51.9% field goal shooting that kept them in the contest.  The Hawks scored more points off turnovers (3), in the paint (2), 2nd chance points (15), fast break points (4) and the Hilbert players coming off the bench outscored the Mavericks' reserves by 23 points.   

Jerame Owens got the Hawks on the board first when he sank both free throws to open the game at 19:36.  The Mavericks knoted the game and from there it was a teeter-totter of a night.  Hilbert's largest lead in the first half (14-10) came after Jalen Smith and Trevor Stark hit back-to-back threes with 12:29 left. But the home team on the scoreboard answered back with four-quick points forcing the 4th tie in the half.  Medaille's 13-0 run ended when Stark knocked down another 3-point shot cutting the score to 23-17.  Hilbert regained the lead twice before intermission, but each time the Hawks took a one-point lead, Medaille's Robby Seyler wiped it out.  The Mavs took a 41-35 score to the break. 

The first half action saw seven lead changes with the score being tied five times in twenty minutes.  Hilbert shot 37% from the floor while the Mavericks connected on 53% of their attempts.

Hilbert opened the second half with quick scores from Owens and CJ Hodge and a traditional three-point play by Xavier Major.  Hodge's layup gave Hilbert their first lead in the second half at 18:38. Neither team was able to pull away from the other.   The largest separation in the second period was after Jalen Smith went on a 5 point run following up his three-pointer with a layup at 6:51 (65-60).  Hilbert held onto the lead while Medaille continued to force five more ties before the final horn. 

With 1:51 left, Ryan Grandit's driving one-on-one layup gave the Mavs their final lead of the game.  But right after, Jerame Owens went to the foul line after a defensive flop was called against Chris Willingham from Medaille. 

Owens sank both shots to give Hilbert a 77-76 lead.

Medaille brought the ball over half court and called a time-out to run a play to win it with 0:25 on the clock.  Owens reached up and stole a Jammel Coleman inbounds pass, took it to the rim and was fouled.  He visited briefly with the Loud and Proud HawksNest fans before walking to the 15 foot line and hitting both shots (79-76). 

Medaille's Coleman was fouled going to the hole and earned double shots from the charity stripe.  After he missed his only free throw of the night, coach Rob deGrandpre called a timeout to ice him.  With the second one swishing, Hilbert regained the ball on offense. 

Nick Nadeau was fouled right away, and made his trip to the charity stripe.  His first knocked around the rim and out but his second went straight in (80-77).  With two seconds left, Grandits' potential three-point, game tying shot wasn't perfect and bounced off the iron for the Hilbert win. 

For the game, there were 16 lead changes (eight earned by each team) and 16 occasions where the score was tied.  Hilbert forced five ties (most in the first half) and Medaille forced 11, almost all in the second half, late in the game.

Hilbert will gather their thoughts and prepare for their first-ever AMCC Championship game Saturday, March 1st against the number-one seeded Penn State Behrend team.  The Lions were 87-71 winners in the 6 pm game played earlier in the evening.

The victor in the 3pm game will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division national tournament.