Utica, NY (12/28/2012) – The Utica College men's basketball team returns to the hardwood from an 18 day break on Saturday to take on visiting Babson College at 2 p.m. at the Clark Athletic Center.
UC in the First Half: Utica went 3-5 before the holiday break … The Pioneers have won two of their last four games, including a 75-72 win over Empire 8 Conference rival Hartwick College … UC's three wins in the first semester came against SUNYIT, SUNY Canton and Hartwick.
Last Time Out: Before the break the Pioneers ran into a hot Union squad which won its sixth straight game, 82-61, over visiting Utica on Dec. 11th …
Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) and
Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School) each netted 11 points to pace the Pioneers ... Jeffers also added a game-high seven rebounds and tallied two assists.
Balanced Attack: The Pioneers' starting five are all averaging more than 9.6 points per game this season including Connor Maisch (14.1),
Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) (10.8),
Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) (10.5),
Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School) (9.8), and
Matt Baldwin (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) (9.6) … This group has combined for 438 of the teams 591 total points.
UC Can Score: The Pioneers currently lead the Empire 8 in points per game with an average of 73.9 through eight games … Junior Connor Maisch is one of ten players in the conference to have scored more than 100 points so far this season and he ranks 8th in the E8 with 14.1 points per game.
Jeffers Does it All: Junior forward
Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) is averaging nearly a double-double per game this year … He ranks second in the conference with 8.6 rebounds per contest.
The Big Man: Senior forward
Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School) ranks third in the Empire 8 with an average of 1.5 blocks per game … He also ranks second on the team with an average of 5.6 rebounds per contest.
Meet the Beavers: Babson is currently 6-4 overall and is coming off a 13 day break from competition … The Beavers have won four of their last five contests including a championship crown at the Hockenbury Classic hosted by Norwich University … The Beavers knocked off regional power Amherst College 78-70 back on Dec. 6th … They are led by John Wickey, who is averaging 19.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game (both a team-best) … Matt Palazini is averaging 12.6 points per game.
Back in Action: After taking on the Beavers on Saturday the Pioneers will travel to SUNYIT on Wednesday to take on the Wildcats in a rare Wednesday day-game … Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Pioneers defeated the Wildcats earlier this season, 97-80.
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