Live Stats

Utica, NY (12-9-11) – The Utica College men's basketball team heads to Rochester, NY Friday for the Rochester Institute of Technology Invitational … The four team tournament will be held at Clark Gymnasium on Friday and Saturday.

Scheduled Tip-Off: On Friday evening, the Pioneers will square off against Gwynedd-Mercy College (Gwynedd Valley, PA) at 6 p.m. in the opening match … Then, at 8 p.m., the host Tigers will tip-off against York College (Jamaica, NY) to determine to the match-ups for Saturday.

UC in 2011-2012: Utica presently maintains a 3-3 overall record and looks to snap a two-game skid Friday against the Griffins of Gwynedd-Mercy … Following the highs of a three-game win streak, UC recently drop two-straight to local rivals Hamilton and SUNYIT … The Pioneers three losses came by defeats of five, seven, and four points, respectively … UC is ranked sixth currently in the Empire 8 Conference.

The Host Tigers: Rochester is entering its inaugural campaign in the Liberty League Conference after leaving the Empire 8 … The Tigers are currently 2-3 overall after dropping three-straight by a ten-point average margin of defeat … Last season, RIT compiled an 11-14 overall record while going 8-8 in E8 … The Pioneers swept the Tigers last season winning 66-53 in Rochester, NY and 76-75 in Utica, NY.

The Other Opponents:  Utica will face Gwynedd-Mercy College for the first time in program history in the tournament opener … The Griffins are 5-3 overall this season while 3-2 in the Colonial States Athletic Conference … GMC is averaging 81.6 points per game this season … York College, just south of Queens, NY, is currently 1-7 overall including an 0-1 mark in the CUNYAC … The Cardinals are averaging 58 points per contest thus far this season.

The Pioneers:  Junior Matt Baldwin (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) leads the squad in scoring and is sixth in the Empire 8 averaging 16.8 points per game … Baldwin also averages 3.7 dishes per game, good enough for second on the team and seventh in the league … Junior forward Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School) has been force in the paint thus far averaging close to a double-double on the season … Ward leads the E8 in offensive rebounding (4.6 Avg/G), is third in overall rebounding (9.4 Avg/G), fourth in field goal percentage (.610%), and 19th in scoring (11.6 Avg/G).

E8 Action: The current conference standings are led by undefeated Hartwick College (8-0), followed by Stevens (6-2) in second and Alfred (4-2) in third … Nazareth (5-3), St. John Fisher (4-3) and Utica (3-3) hold fourth, fifth and sixth with a one-win advantage over each other … Ithaca (2-5) occupies seventh with Elmira (0-8) in tenth, searching for its first win.

Back on the Court: Following the weekend invitational, UC returns to the hardwood Tuesday when it hosts Union College in the final game before a three-week, winter break hiatus.