Hamburg, NY – Danny Santana poured in a game-high 19 points but the SUNY Canton men's basketball team fell 72-66 in their season opener to host Hilbert College at the Hilbert Hawks Against Hunger Tip Off Tournament on Friday evening.

THE BASICS

• Result: Hilbert 72, SUNY Canton 66  
• Location: Hafner Recreation Center – Hamburg, NY
• Records: Hilbert (1-1) | SUNY Canton (0-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Roos jumped out to an early 6-2 lead but the host Hawks took a six-point lead (31-25) with 3:55 remaining in the opening half.
• Hilbert closed the half on a 10-2 run to take a double-digit lead at 41-29 into intermission.
• The Hawks led by as many as 14 at 49-35 just over six minutes into the second half.
• SUNY Canton battled all the way back with a 23-9 spurt to tie the game at 58 apiece with 5:50 remaining after three straight Andrew Fitch free throws.
• The hosts responded scoring seven of the next eight points to open a 65-59 lead with 3:39 to play. The Hawks led by as many as eight in the final two minutes with Canton only able to get as close as four as Hilbert held on for the victory.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Santana led all players with 19 points adding six rebounds as he shot 6-for-14 from the floor and 7-for-11 from the free throw line. DeMerrill Levy was the only other Canton player in double figures with 15 points and four rebounds. He shot 5-for-8 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the line.
• Fitch stuffed the stat sheet nearly recording a triple-double with seven points, 10 rebounds and eight blocks. Juztin Chambers-Phillips and Peyton Olsen supplied seven points each.
• The Roos shot 42.0 percent from the field, while the Hawks hit on just 37.8 percent of their field goals. Hilbert owned a 47-37 advantage on the glass and scored 17 points off 16 Canton turnovers. The Hawks bench outscored the Roos reserves, 38-11.
• Hilbert saw four different players score in double figures in Elijah Powell (12), Jahmel Demery (12), Jon Evans (11) and Eric Jackson (10).

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
The men's basketball team will square off with Keuka College in the consolation game of the Hilbert Hawks Against Hunger Tip Off Tournament on Saturday at 1 p.m. Keuka fell to John Carroll 109-96 in Friday's other contest.
 


About SUNY Canton
As Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and professional certificate programs, SUNY Canton delivers quality hands-on programs in digital design, engineering technology, health, management and public service. Faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. As SUNY's leader in online education, SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as 23 online degree programs. The college placed first in 14 categories in a SUNY-Wide Student Opinion Survey, most notably in career services, tutoring, library resources, and classroom facilities. The SUNY Canton Kangaroos 15 traditional athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division III level as part of the North Atlantic Conference. SUNY Canton also features varsity esports and cheerleading.