Alfred 65, Utica 60 - Box Score

Utica, N.Y. (1/8/2010) - Senior forward Robert Whyte (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Township) scored a career-high 18 points and snagged 12 rebounds, but it was not enough, as the Utica College men's basketball team lost to visiting Alfred University 65-60 in an Empire 8 Conference contest at the Clark Athletic Center Saturday afternoon.

The Pioneers have fallen upon hard times as of late, and after opening the season with a 6-1 record, they have now lost four in a row to fall to 6-5 on the year. Alfred improved to 6-5 overall and won its first Empire 8 Conference contest of the year.

The visitors held a slight advantage in the first ten minutes of the contest, opening up leads of six points on four different occasions, until Utica made its first run of the contest at the 12:56 mark. The Pioneers used a 7-0 run over the course of 1:49 to take their first lead of the contest, 13-12, at the 11:07 mark of the first half.

After two lead changes and two ties, Alfred's Sean Curran put the Saxons back on top by knocking down two consecutive 3-pointers and the visitors found themselves with a three point lead with just under eight minutes to go in the first half. The Pioneers knotted the score once more before the half but the Saxons managed a three point lead as the buzzer sounded. When it was all said and done the first 20 minutes featured four lead changes and four ties.

Alfred held a small lead for the first eight minutes of the second half until the Pioneers used a 15-4 run to take a four point lead, 44-40, with 9:51 to go in the contest. However, the Saxons would not go down easy, knocking down 4-of-5 field goals and 4-of-5 free throws in the final 5:21 of play to earn the key conference victory.

Utica dominated the boards, snagging 50 total rebounds (23 offensive), but the Pioneers could only manage 12 second chance points in the loss. UC had a clear size advantage and outscored the visitors by a margin of 34-16 in the paint. In the end, outside shooting proved to be pivotal as the Saxons knocked down nine 3-pointers compared to the Pioneers' two.

Senior guard James Patterson (Poughkeepsie, NY/Poughkeepsie) scored ten points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists. Sophomore Kevin Johnson added eight points and Will Abrams (Somerset, NJ/Rutgers Prep School), Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School), Almir Gredelj (Utica, NY/Proctor) and Alex Meyer (Salt Point, NY/Our Lady of Lourdes) all had at least five points for Utica.

Eight different players scored for the Saxons, including Curran (17), Bryan Bobo (14) and Gary Kwiecien (10).

Utica hopes to snap its four game slide on Tuesday night when it hosts conference foe Ithaca College at 8 p.m. Check www.ucpioneers.com for links to live video, audio and stats.

                                                                          --- www.ucpioneers.com ---