Buffalo State and Hilbert earned victories tonight on the opening round of the Buffalo State Holiday Inn Invitational at the Sports Arena. Hilbert (1-5) defeated Medaille (0-6), 63-59, in the opener, and the Bengals (4-1) downed D’Youville (2-5), 85-75, in the nightcap.
In the first game, Medaille led 28-24 at the intermission, but Hilbert took the lead with 10:47 remaining during a 12-2 run and did not look back. Keon Rembert led Hilbert with 19 points and 13 rebounds. William Hall also notched a double-double with 13 points and 12 boards, and Sam Gioia added 12 points for the Hawks. Anthony Perioli led the Mavericks with 17 points, and Rene Smith tallied 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
In the late contest, Buffalo State sprinted to a 45-24 lead in the opening half, before cruising to the 10-point victory. Gregg Jones led 13 Bengals on the scoresheet with a career-high 27 points and nine rebounds. Jones was 9-of-11 from the field and hit 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Aaron Carter, Jeremy Konst and Jobany Tirado each added eight points for Buffalo State. Ross King led D’Youville with 26 points, and Kyle Ward had 17 points and eight assists. Justin Cooke added 11 points and 10 boards for the Spartans.
Hilbert will face Buffalo State in tomorrow’s championship game at 8 p.m. Medaille and D’Youville will square off in the consolation game at 6 p.m.