Box Score Box Score Utica 85, Elmira 74 Final

Utica, NY (1-19-13) – Junior Connor Maisch went off for 25 points Saturday afternoon to lead the Utica College men's basketball team to a 85-74 victory over conference rival Elmira College.  The Pioneers return to their home hardwood Tuesday, Jan. 22 as they welcome Nazareth College for another Empire 8 Conference match.

UC moves to 6-11 overall while improving to 3-4 in the Empire 8 Conference.  EC falls to 3-13 on the season including a 1-5 mark in league play and returns to action Tuesday, Jan. 22 to face Houghton College.

The Pioneers opened up the contest with an early run and managed a 17-10 advantage over the first five minutes of play.  The visitors would answer with a 10-0 run of its own to gain its first lead, 20-17, with 13:37 left in the first half.  Over the next ten minutes, the squads would battle back and forth trading leads before the home team streaked a 19-7 swing to take a 45-33 cushion with, under three minutes left until the break. Elmira then used an 8-5 run to pull with seven of the lead, 48-41, headed into the locker room.

Maisch netted seven-of-11 Pioneer pionts, in a 5:15 span, to close out the first half of action.  Derrick Vogel and Neil Randolph each scored 11 points to lead the visitors in the first 20.

EC came out in the second half with a quick 12-5 strut to knot up the game, 53-53, at 14:40.  The visitors tied the game again, 60-60, at the 11 minute mark off the help of  six points from Soaring Eagle Chris Cassidy.  The Soaring Eagles continued tough, keeping up with UC's potent offense for the next 10 minutes, before Maisch and company fired a 20-8 race to close out the match to snap a three-game slide.

All five Utica starters recorded double digits as the Pioneers got back to their winning ways. Maisch posted another stellar performance shooting 9-of-14 from the floor including 4-of-7 from downtown.  Senior big-man Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School) tallied a double-double while posting 16 points and grabbing 10 boards.  Junior Matt Baldwin (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) tallied 16 points while sophomore guard Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) and junior Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) combined for 22 points, seven assists and three steals.

Elmira's Derrick Vogel led the Soaring Eagles with 19 points while teammates Neil Randolph and Chris Cassisdy teamed up for 27 points.