ONEONTA, NY – Host Hartwick gave unbeaten Hamilton College all it could handle Wednesday night despite falling by a final score of 91-81. The Hawks, who trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half, fought their way back to tie the score four times late in the contest before the Continentals used a 13-2 run to pull away in the final three minutes.
            With the victory, Hamilton improves to 7-0 on the season. The Hawks slip to 5-3.
            Four Hawks were in double figures on the night, led by Bobby Connors' (Rockville Centre, NY/Chaminade) 18 points. He added nine rebounds, three steals, and two blocks. Kyle Bradshaw (Tinton Falls, NJ/Manasquan) had a double-double with 15 points, and a game-high 12 rebounds, to go along with three assists, and two steals. Austin Haskell (Kirkwood, NY/Susquehanna Valley) converted 16 points with seven rebounds and Tommy Kelly (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) netted 12 points.
            Pat Garey (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) and Liam Brennan (Oyster Bay, NY/Chaminade) each chipped in nine points apiece.
            Hamilton was paced by Kena Gilmour, who scored 26 second-half points to finish with a game-high 31. He also scored 11 consecutive points for the Continentals with a trio of three-pointers in the late run. Eric Anderson and Elliott Tirbaso each added 10 points.
            In the first half, Hamilton took the early lead but the Hawks stuck with the Continentals. An eight-point advantage with seven minutes elapsed was erased thanks to a 10-2 Hartwick run to tie the score at 17. Drennan would score five points in the spurt.
            The Continentals regained the lead, which grew to eight with 8:25 left, before the Hawks narrowed the gap to three points three minutes later. A 7-1 rally in less than a minute handed Hamilton its largest lead up to that point, 45-34, and buckets from Connors and Bradshaw made it a 45-38 deficit at halftime.
            Hamilton made five of its first seven shots to start the second half to open up a 60-45 margin with under 16 minutes remaining. The Hawks continued to hang around, knocking the lead down to five after a Connors' three with 9:12 left to play, and to three a minute and a half later on a Garey trey.
            Drennan tied the game for the first time since it was 17-all with 5:34 to go. A Connors' layup evened the score at 71-all 41 seconds later and free throws from Kelly at the 3:55 mark and again at 2:54 would draw the Hawks even.
            A Gilmour three-pointer put the visitors up to stay with 2:42 remaining. Following a pair from the line, Gilmour then hit from downtown at 1:39 and again with 54 seconds left to give Hamilton a commanding nine-point, 86-77 advantage. Four free throws from Nick Osarenren made the gap 11 with under 30 seconds left to put the game away.
            The Hawks finished the game shooting 43.3% (29-for-67) from the floor. The Hawks struggled from three making 5-of-19 (26.3%) in the contest. The Continentals made 44.1% (30-for-68) from the floor. They would connect on 11 three-point baskets on 34 attempts. Hamilton had the edge on the glass, 47-42.
            Hartwick is off for the next ten days until they travel to Morrisville State for a Saturday, December 14 meeting with the Mustangs beginning at 4 p.m.
            Make sure to catch the latest news on all your favorite Hartwick Hawks teams by following @HawkTalk on Twitter, @hartwickhawks on Instagram, and by liking 'Hartwick Hawks' on Facebook.