The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball team (7-13, 6-7) got out to a fast start against one of the top teams in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference, but couldn't outlast a tough Hilbert College (17-4, 11-3) offense in the second half, falling 76-68 to the Hawks on Wednesday night in the KOA Arena. 

Eric Matheson led the Panther's offense with 26 points, going 7-13 from the field while Evan Greening turned in another strong performance, dropping 21 points and adding a team-high 18 rebounds. Steven Owens chipped in with eight points off of the bench in the loss. 

Kirkland Ottey led the Hawks with 17 points while Jerame Owens added a double-double, posting 12 point and 11 boards. Malique McCoy followed with 14 points and David Arlaud rounded out the Hawks in double-figures with 11 points. 

Pitt-Bradford dominated Hilbert in the game's first seven minutes, jumping out to a 15-point lead at 22-7. 

However, Hilbert answered with a 16-0 run of their own, taking a 23-22 lead with 6:27 left in the first half. 

The two teams would trade buckets over the final minutes of the half with Matheson drilling a three-point bucket at the buzzer to tie the score at 31-31 at the half. 

The Hawks began to take control in the second half, extending their lead to 19 points on an Ottey three-point jumper with 7:54 to play. 

The Panthers never quit, cutting the lead to just six points when Matheson buried another shot from beyond the arc, making it a 72-66 game with just under one minute to play. 

The Pitt-Bradford run came up just short, as the Panthers ran out of time, falling 76-68.

UPB continues AMCC play Saturday afternoon at one at Penn State Altoona.