HAMBURG, N.Y. – Hilbert College pulled out a win in a back-and-forth Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference matchup on Wednesday afternoon, defeating the Penn State Altoona men's basketball team 99-90 in the Hafner Recreation Center.

In a tightly-contested game that included nine lead changes, Penn State Altoona (7-4, 3-4 AMCC) held an 85-83 lead with 5:25 remaining in the second half. But Hilbert (10-2, 6-1 AMCC) slowed the Lions' offense down from there on out, and the Hawks posted a 16-5 scoring advantage the rest of the way to earn a nine-point victory on their home court.

"Tough loss. People who make the schedule didn't do us any favors with sending us to Buffalo twice in a four-day span, and I think it took a toll and we ran out of gas," said Penn State Altoona head coach David McGreal. "Hats off to Hilbert. They made plays and made free throws down the stretch, and we didn't."

Jack Kusters (Quakertown, PA/Lansdale Catholic) led Penn State Altoona in scoring with a season-high 23 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Robbie Hicks (Rockledge, FL/Rockledge) added 17 points, and Cameron Gardner-Nicholson (Philadelphia, PA/Boys' Latin Charter) notched his sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds while also blocking two shots.

Andruw Harman (Chesapeake, VA/Great Bridge) contributed 14 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Austin Krise (Allport, PA/West Branch) provided 10 points off the bench.

Hilbert's Lazar Jovanovich scored a game-high 30 points for the Hawks, while Masia Phillips added 22 points. Hunter Martineau sniffed a triple-double with 14 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds, and Jon Evans chipped in 13 points.

Penn State Altoona got off to a strong start. Harman's layup and foul shot in the game's first possession put the Lions on the board, and Hicks' layup, Kusters' jump shot, and Gardner-Nicholson's dunk helped the visitors establish a 9-4 lead by 17:35. An 8-0 run by Hilbert put the Hawks in front, 12-9, but back-to-back layups from Harman got Penn State Altoona back into the lead, 13-12, by the 15:39 mark.

Hilbert surged back, outscoring Penn State Altoona 17-9 over the next five minutes to stake out a 29-22 advantage, getting three-pointers from Phillips, Jovanovich, and Ryan Hogan during that span. Baskets from Phillips and Jovanovich kept the Hawks ahead by seven points, 33-26, with 7:54 to go in the first half.

Penn State Altoona responded by outscoring Hilbert 14-7 over the ensuing four minutes. Buckets from Harman, Hicks, and Alex McClellan (York, PA/West York) cut Hilbert's lead to four by the 6:38 mark, and Kusters converted on a three-point play at 5:32 to bring his team to within one, 36-35. Hicks' free throw 23 seconds later knotted the score at 36, and two Kusters foul shots and a Hicks layup put the Lions ahead, 40-36, by 3:52.

Hicks connected on a shot from beyond the arc at 3:12 to keep Penn State Altoona up by four, 43-39, but baskets from Kyreese Fisher and Phillips tied things up for the Hawks with 2:28 left in the period. A three-pointer from Jovanovich and two-point jumper from Evans inside the final minute of the half gave Hilbert a 48-43 lead heading into the locker room.

Jovanovich's trey and Fisher's jumper early in the second half expanded Hilbert's lead to nine points, 58-49, by 17:05.

But Penn State Altoona did not let things get out of hand, quickly getting back to within two points following a 9-2 run that included five points from Kusters, along with layups from Trey Butterworth (Clarence, PA/Bald Eagle) and Gardner-Nicholson.

Hilbert widened the gap to as many as seven points over the next several minutes, but Penn State Altoona continued to hang around. Harman's layup and free throw at 9:53 brought the Lions back to within three points, 73-70. Kusters' three-pointer at 9:19 made it a two-point game, and his layup at 8:40 kept the difference at two, 77-75. A Gardner-Nicholson foul shot with eight minutes left and Krise layup at 6:53 helped the Lions remain within one possession of Hilbert's lead, 80-78.

Krise's jump shot and free throw at 6:29 cut Hilbert's advantage to one, 82-81, and Harman's layup 17 seconds later tied the score at 83. Krise's layup at the 5:25 mark gave Penn State Altoona an 85-83 lead, the Lions' first lead since late in the first half. Hilbert retook the lead one minute later on Evans' shot that put his team up 86-85, but Hicks' layup at 4:06 got Penn State Altoona back in front.

But Hilbert reclaimed the lead once and for all on Phillips' shot at 3:44. Five more points by Phillips over the next minute helped the Hawks to a 93-87 lead, and Hilbert made six free throws within the final 1:37 of the game, including Martineau going 5-for-6 at the line during that span.

On the day, Penn State Altoona outscored Hilbert in the paint (54-34), in fastbreak situations (16-8), and off of turnovers (19-16). But the Hawks outperformed the Lions at the free throw line and from three-point range, as Hilbert shot 71.9 percent (23-for-32) at the line and 41.7 percent (10-for-24) from three-point land, compared to Penn State Altoona's 50.0 percent (11-for-22) at the charity stripe and 25.9 percent (7-for-27) from beyond the arc.

Next, the Lions have another AMCC road trip to make this Saturday, January 11, when Penn State Altoona travels to play Pitt-Bradford at 2:00 p.m.

"We have to get back to work on our defense. We've either been really good or really bad at it," said McGreal. "We have to get back to work and make some adjustments and get a big conference road win on Saturday."