Live Stats    Live Video    Live Audio

Utica, NY (1-3-13) – The Utica College men's basketball team is laced up for three straight Empire 8 Conference battles at the friendly confines of the Clark Athletic Center over the next five days … UC welcomes St. John Fisher College on Friday (8 p.m.), Alfred University on Saturday (4 p.m.) and then Ithaca College on Tuesday evening (8 p.m.).

Tough Start for UC:  The Pioneers look to get back to their winning ways this weekend in hopes of snapping their current four-game slide … UC holds a 3-7 overall record while maintaining a 1-1 ledger in the conference … During the recent losing streak, Utica was defeated by Stevens, Union, Babson and local rival SUNYIT by an average of 14.5 points per contest … Utica's three wins came against SUNYIT (97-80), SUNY Canton (89-66) and E8 rival Hartwick (75-72) … The squad holds a 1-3 record at home this year while 2-2 on the road.

Deuce - Deuce is Loose: Sophomore guard No. 22 Marion Lewis (Bronx, NY/Lehman) is really taking advantage of his extended minutes coming off performances of 17 and 29 points in his last two games …The everyday sixth man got his first start of the season Wednesday at SUNYIT and dropped 29 points on 11-of-18 (.611%) shooting … He also added a team-high seven rebounds and five steals in 38 minutes along with his scoring crusade … On the season, Lewis is third in scoring (10.8 p/g) for UC and second in shooting percentage (.610%) … His 61% field goal percentage ranks him third in the conference.

C.J. Amongst the League Leaders: Junior Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) is in the top 12 in almost every category in the conference statistic report … He is currently second in rebounds (8.4 p/g) and third in field goal percentage (61.5%) while 12th in scoring (12.4 p/g) and steals (1.3 p/g) … Jeffers has a team-best four double-doubles this season and is coming off season-highs of 17 and 21 points in his last two games.

Getting to Know the Cardinals: St. John Fisher is currently 7-4 overall and 2-0 in Empire 8 action … Fisher opened up the season with three straight victories including a tournament trophy at the Hilbert Tip-Off Tournament … Since then, the Cardinals have maintained a 4-4 overall record including back-to-back conference wins over Alfred and Elmira … Last season, the teams split the season series with both winning on the road by 12 points … The Cardinals hold a 7-3 advantage over the Pioneers over the course of the last five seasons.

Scouting the Saxons: Alfred University maintains a 2-7 overall record while 0-1 in conference play and has lost three games by three points or less … The Saxons have dropped three straight and six of their last seven … Since 2007-08, UC has posted a 7-3 record against AU while sweeping the season series last season ... AU has posted a 10-23 record on the road dating back to the 2010-11 season

Conference Standings: St. John Fisher (7-4, 2-0 E8) is currently in first place with Stevens (6-1, 1-0 E8) and Ithaca (5-3, 1-0 E8) following in a tie for second … Utica is in sole possession of fourth place while Nazareth, in fifth, has not yet competed in conference play … Hartwick (6-4, 0-1 E8) and Alfred (2-7, 0-1 E8) share seventh each with a loss in the conference bracket and Elmira (0-8, 0-2 E8) sits winless in eighth.