Box Score Utica 74, Hilbert 61 -
Box Score
Hamburg, NY – Utica College (2-1) shot 45 percent from the field as it pulled away from Hilbert College for a 74-61 victory in the championship game of the 2nd annual Hilbert College Tip-Off Tournament Saturday night. Junior transfer
Matt Baldwin (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) followed up yesterday's 28-point effort with a 22 point, four assist performance on his way to earning the tournament's Most Valuable Player honors. He shot 8-for-16 from the floor and 2-for-4 from the charity stripe on the afternoon.
Playing big inside for the blue and orange,
Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School) was 6-for-9 (13 points) and was the game-leader in rebounds with nine (5 on the offensive end). Hilbert's Chris Hoak went 4-for-6 from long distance and led the Hawks with 18 points. Barry Mason also hit double digits, finishing with 14, shooting an impressive 5-for-7 from the floor and 4-for-5 from the foul line.
Heading into half time down by one, Hilbert regained their composure and built their largest second-half lead of six points at 14:23 off a Jordan VanDunk made free throw. Utica closed the gap and tied the game 43-43 with 12:34 to go. Both teams traded baskets the next few possessions until a Baldwin lay-in capped Utica's 11 point surge at 7:44. Hilbert put the visitors at the line and challenged them to win it with freebies. Utica completed 6-of-8 attempts to capture the championship.
Freshman Walkery Mills had another big night for UC, netting 13 points while pulling down five rebounds. Senior
Reggie German (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) tacked on nine points, while freshman point guard
Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) chipped in with eight of his own.
The All-Tournament Team for the two-day affair was from Utica,
Matt Baldwin (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) and
Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School); Hilbert's Chris Hoak; Clarkson's Felix Lianos and Keuka's Coty Paige.
The Pioneers have now won two in a row and will take a nine day Thanksgiving breather before hosting SUNYIT for a cross-town battle on Nov. 28th at 7 p.m.
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