PIONEERS PROVE TO BE ROAD WARRIORS AND ARE PLAYOFF BOUND
Utica 88, Elmira 84 – Men’s Basketball Final
Elmira, NY (2/16/13)- Five different Pioneers scored in the double digits, including junior Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) who netted a team-high 21 points to lift the Utica College men’s basketball team to an 88-84 victory over Elmira College for its second Empire 8 Conference win in as many days.
With the win, the Pioneers clinched the fourth and final playoff spot in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament. UC will take on No. 1 seed Stevens Institute of Technology, Friday at 6 p.m. at Stevens. The winner will play the winner of the other semifinal between Ithaca and St. John Fisher.
UC went on a 14-6 run in the first five minutes of the game led by a pair of threes from Jeffers and senior Matt Baldwin (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville). The Pioneers led by as many as 12 points in the first quarter, but the Soaring Eagles were able to cut the lead to 47-39 at the half.
Elmira was able to narrow the Pioneer lead to just one point within the first 4:36 of the second stanza, but Jeffers and Baldwin combined for six points over the next minute and a half to stretch UC’s lead back to seven. Following 13 minutes of back-and-forth action, Elmira’s Derrick Vogel put in a layup and added a free throw basket to pull within one with just 13 seconds left. However, free throws from Jeffers and sophomore Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) over the final ten seconds sealed the victory for the Pioneers.
Nevins finished with 19 points and four dishes, while Baldwin had 17 points, including two 3-pointers, and four assists. Junior Connor Maisch (Kingston, NY/John A. Coleman) ended the night with 14 points, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the line and 2-for-2 on 3-point attempts. Sophomore Marion Lewis (Bronx, NY/Lehman) had 13 points and brought down five rebounds, while Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School) and Marty Felicia (Phoenix, NY/Phoenix) each added two points on the evening.
MAISCH NAILS GAME-WINNER WITH ONE SECOND LEFT TO KEEP UC’S PLAYOFF HOPES ALIVE
Utica 69, Ithaca 66 – Men’s Basketball Final
Ithaca, NY (2/15/2013) – With the scored tied at 66-66 and 3.8 seconds remaining on the clock, UC junior Connor Maisch (Kingston, NY/John A. Coleman) took the inbounds pass in the corner, stepped back, and nailed the game-winning 3-pointer to lift Utica College to a huge 69-66 men’s basketball victory over host Ithaca College on Friday night in Empire 8 Conference action at Ben Light Gymnasium.
finished the day with a team-high 18 points for the Pioneers. UC (11-13, 7-6 Empire) now needs a win at Elmira tomorrow and an Ithaca win over Nazareth to earn a spot in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign. Ithaca dropped to 16-8 overall and 9-4 in conference play after the loss. Top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology will host the conference tournament next weekend in Hoboken, NJ.
Junior Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) finished the day with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Marion Lewis (Bronx, NY/Lehman) came off the bench and netted 13 points for the Pioneers.
The Pioneers led 60-51 with 2:58 remaining in regulation before the Bombers went on a 15-6 run to knot the score at 66-66 with 11 ticks left on the game clock. The Pioneers took the ball down the court and Maisch got an open 3-point look with about six seconds left, but the shot did not fall.
The ball was eventually tipped out of bounds by Ithaca, leaving UC with one more chance with 3.8 seconds left. After a Utica time out, Chirs Jeffers inbounded the ball to Maisch in the corner, Maisch made one quick move, stepped back and launched a high arching 3-pointer over the outstretched hands of Ithaca guard Sean Rossi.
The shot hit nothing but the bottom of the net and the Pioneers led by three points, 69-66, with 0.2 left on the clock. Ithaca was able to heave up a desperation shot from ¾’s court, but the shot fell short as the Pioneers playoff hopes remained intact.
UC used a 9-0 midway through the second half to erase a six point deficit as the Pioneers earned a 45-42 lead with 10:36 left in the contest. The final ten minutes saw two lead changes and two ties, including Ithaca’s tie at 66-66 with 11 seconds left after Eli Maravich tipped home the game-tying bucket as time winded down.
The first half was filled with back and forth action that resulted in five ties and seven lead changes, but Maravich hit a 3-pointer late in the first half to give the Bombers a 33-29 lead as the first half clock expired.
Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) scored 10 points, including going 6-for-8 from the charity stripe for UC, while Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School) scored six points and grabbed four rebounds.
Travis Warech netted a game-high 25 points for Ithaca before fouling out late in the second half. Rossie added 10 assists as he inched closer to the NCAA Division III record for assists in a career.
Utica will take on host Elmira Saturday at 4 p.m. in its regular season finale. The Pioneers defeated the Soaring Eagles 85-74 in their first meeting of the regular season back on Jan. 19th.
Utica, NY- The Hartwick men’s basketball team found itself in a big hole in the first half and despite outscoring Utica 50-34 in the second frame, the Hawks came up short in the end as they fell to the Pioneers 90-77 on Tuesday night at Harold T. Clark Gymnasium. The loss drops Hartwick to 11-10 overall and 3-7 in the Empire 8. Utica improves its record to 9-13 overall and 6-6 in the E8.
Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) led Hartwick with 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting and added five rebounds. Travis Godley (Putnam, CT/Putnam Science Academy) came off the bench to score a game- and career-high 17 points with all five of his baskets coming via the three-pointer. Kyle Bradley (Cornwall, NY/Mansfield University) netted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He also dished out three assists.
For the Pioneers, Chris Jeffers was one of five players to score in double figures as he led the team with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting and also pulled down eight rebounds. Matt Baldwin scored 19 points while shooting six-of-8 from the floor. Connor Maisch contributed 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out five assists.
Aaron Nevins chipped in 13 points and seven assists. Marion Lewis came off the bench and scored 14 points and picked up four rebounds.
Utica was on fire in the first half as it shot 74% (23-of-31) in field goals and converted 80% (8-of-10) of its three-point attempts. The Pioneers scored the first five points of the game until Anthony Keane (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) got the Hawks on the board with a layup at 18:36 to make it 5-2 Utica.
Following a layup from Jeff Ward, Hartwick would trim the Pioneer lead to two points, 7-5, on a three-point shot fromMike Geisser (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park). The Hawks would twice narrow the deficit to three points with the second time coming at 15:46.
Utica would outscore Hartwick 27-11 over the next seven and a half minutes to surge ahead 38-20 with 7:01 left to play in the half. A Godley three-pointer at 6:40 would lower the lead to 15 points but Utica would go on an 18-4 run the rest of the half to lead 56-29 at the break.
In the second half, UC would not let up as Baldwin hit a trey at 16:03 to put the Pioneers ahead 63-33. ‘Wick would slowly chip away at the lead as it went on a 22-12 run to get to within 20 points, 75-55, at 9:45.
The Pioneers would convert their final basket of the game at 4:03 on a three-pointer from Jeffers to go ahead 89-63. Hartwick pieced together a furious rally as it mounted a 14-1 run to make it 90-77 UC with just 40 seconds left to play. The rally ended following a missed jumper from Ryan Gill (Seaville, NJ/Ocean City) with 31 seconds remaining as Utica ran out the clock and held on for the victory.
Despite their struggles early on, the Hawks were a better shooting team in the second half as they hit 44% (15-of-34) of their shots and nearly 53% of their three-point attempts. ’Wick led in rebounds 34-31. The Hawk bench outscored Utica’s 37-16.
Hartwick returns home to face Ithaca on Friday night at Lambros Arena. Game time will be at 8 p.m.
BALANCED SCORING & SOLID DEFENSE KEY WIN OVER NAZ
Box Score -Utica 74, Nazareth 69 – Men’s Basketball Final
MHTS instant replay!
Utica, NY (1/22/2013) – The Utica College men’s basketball team dominated the first half of play, and fended off a powerful second half comeback, on its way to a key 74-69 Empire 8 Conference victory over visiting Nazareth College on Tuesday night at the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.
The Pioneers connected on 22-of-26 free throws on the afternoon, while Matt Baldwin (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds.
Sophomore guard Aaron Nevins(Buffalo, NY/Canisius) and junior forward Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) each added 16 points as the Pioneers won their second straight conference contest and improved to 7-11 overall and 4-4 in the E8.
Tyshun Stephens netted 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Nazareth, while freshman Mitch Ford chipped in with 25 points and seven rebounds. The rest of the Golden Flyer contingent combined for 18 points as they dropped their third straight game and moved to 11-7 overall and 5-4 in the E8.
Utica opened the game on a 28-8 run in the first 10:20 of the contest to jump out to a 20 point advantage with 9:40 to go in the first half of play.
The opening spurt included six points from senior forward Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School), highlighted by his thundering one handed dunk 7:56 into the contest. Ward finished the day with seven points and four rebounds. He currently ranks third all-time in program-history with 566 career rebounds.
Naz closed out the final 9:07 of the first half on a 16-9 run to cut UC’s lead to 37-24 at the half. The Golden Flyer run was lead by 11 points from Mitch Ford.
Nazareth would not go down without a fight as it opened the second half on a 24-6 run in the first 10:16 to take a 48-43 lead with 9:44 to go in the contest. The Pioneers responded right back with a 13-1 run in just over three minutes, including seven points from Nevins, to give UC a 56-49 lead with 6:19 to go.
The Golden Flyers answered with a 6-2 run in a span of 2:08 to make it a three point game, 58-55, with 2:54 left. UC’s Matt Baldwin (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) then scored eight straight points, in just 43 seconds, to give UC an 11 point lead with 1:50 to go. Baldwin’s push essentially sealed the victory. Baldwin hit two 3-pointers on the afternoon and currently ranks fifth all-time in school-history with 112 career triples.
A 14-6 run in the next 1:06 by Naz put a scare in the Pioneers, but Maisch netted two free throws with four seconds left to secure the key conference victory. Maisch finished the night with nine points and his 56 3-pointers this season ranks seventh on the College’s all-time single season list.
Marion Lewis (Bronx, NY/Lehman) scored seven points off the bench for UC and Jeffers also hauled in 11 rebounds.
Utica will now hit the road for three straight conference games, beginning with St. John Fisher College on Friday night at 8 p.m
