Box Score

Potsdam 79, Utica 66 - Men's Basketball Final

Potsdam, NY (1/15/2013) – The Utica College men's basketball team lost to host Potsdam State 79-66 in non-conference action Tuesday night at Jerry Welsh Gymnasium.  Sophomore point guard Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) led UC with 14 points, while junior Connor Maisch added 12 points, six rebounds and six assists.  Senior Matt Baldwin (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) added 13 points and six rebounds and junior Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) added 12 points and eight rebounds. 

Mark Lake Jr. led the Bears (5-8) with 18 points, while Curtis Pierce added 16 points and ten rebounds.  Utica outscored the home team 40-28 in the paint, but the Bears netted 33 points off of 20 Pioneer turnovers to help Potsdam earn the 13 point win. 

A slow start on the offensive end by Utica led to a 15-4 advantage in the first seven minutes of the contest for Potsdam.  A 10-0 run by UC ensued, and the Pioneers trailed by just one point with 8:14 left in the first half.  Potsdam seemed to have every answer as they retaliated with a quick 11-2 run to take ten point lead back, 28-18, with 4:56 remaining in the first half.  The Bears clung to the lead and took a 12 point advantage into the locker room at the half.

The Bears quickly extended their lead to 15 points in the first minute of the second half.  Over the course of the next ten minutes the Pioneers outscored the home team 30-17 to cut their deficit to just two points, 57-55, with 9:27 to go. That was as close as UC would get as the Bears went on a 13-2 run in just over four minutes to take a double-digit lead right back, 70-57, with 5:09 left on the game clock.  Utica made one last 9-2 spurt and trailed by as few as six points with under two minutes to play, but the Pioneers were held scoreless in the final 1:55 as the Bears earned the 13 point victory.

Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School) added seven points and four steals for UC, while Marion Lewis (Bronx, NY/Lehman) came off the bench and netted five points of his own.
 
The Pioneers have nine Empire 8 Conference contests left on their regular season schedule as they make their push to earn a top four seed and a trip to the conference tournament.  The Pioneers (5-11) hope to snap a two game slide on Saturday afternoon when they host Elmira College at 4 p.m.

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