The Utica College men's basketball team lost to visiting Nazareth College 69-56 in Empire 8 Conference play Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers trailed by three at halftime, 35-32, but the Golden Flyers outscored UC by ten in the second half on their way to a 13 point victory. Utica senior forward Patrick Goodman scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed six rebounds, while sophomore Evan Taylor added 12 points off the bench.

The Pioneers shot 52% from the floor (13-for-25) in the first half and led for the first 9:38 of the contest but Nazareth took a one point lead, 15-14, at the 10:32 mark and never looked back. The Pioneers were able to cut the Golden Flyer lead to just one point on four different occasions before the end of the first half but they could never regain the lead and Naz took a three point lead, 35-32, into the lock rooms at half.

The Golden Flyers came out firing in the second half and opened up its first double digit lead of the contest, 48-37, 6:55 into the final 20 minutes of play. Naz extended its lead to as many at 19 points with 5:29 to go in the game and never looked back.

Junior Will Abrams and freshman Kevin Johnson each netted eight points for the Pioneers, while Andrew Preston added seven points, three assists and three rebounds.

Corey McAdam led the way for Nazareth with 32 points, four assists and four rebounds. He shot 15-of-16 from the foul line and 8-of-15 from the field on the day. Freshman Tyshun Stephens added ten points and five boards for the Golden Flyers.

UC remains in the hunt for its first conference victory on Tuesday night when they host Ithaca College in Empire 8 action at 8 p.m.

                         --- www.ucpioneers.com ---