Utica, NY (1-7-13) – The Utica College men's basketball team (4-8, 2-2 Empire 8) looks to wrap up its three-game home stand with a win on Tuesday against Ithaca College.
This Past Weekend: UC went 1-1 this past weekend at home losing to St. John Fisher, 70-61, on Friday and rebounding with an 86-74 victory over Alfred University on Saturday ... Junior forward Connor Maisch led the way both nights netting 17 points on Friday and a game-high 26 points on Saturday ... Classmate
Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) continued his solid workload averaging a double-double on the weekend with 14 points and 11 boards.
The Maisch Campaign: Junior Connor Maisch slipped into the Pioneer uniform and meshed right away ... In his first season with UC, he is currently leading the squad and is 10th in the Empire 8 in scoring, averaging 14.6 points per game. Maisch is coming off a season-best and game-high 26 point performance against Alfred on Saturday and currently has four 20+ point games on the season ... He is first in the conference in 3-pointers made with 37 and is third in 3-point percentage (48.7%).
Mr. Double-Double: Junior
Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) posted a 10 point, nine rebound performance in the loss on Friday and followed up with his team-best fifth double-double of the season on Saturday netting 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds ... On the season, Jeffers is averaging 12.7 points and 8.8 grabs per contest while leading the squad in shooting percentage (.628%) ... He currently ranks second in the Empire 8 in rebounding and third in field goal percentage.
Bombs Away: Ithaca College (7-3, 3-0 Empire 8) sits atop the Empire 8 standings in first and is currently riding the highs of a four game winning streak, including a weekend sweep in Empire 8 play over Alfred and St. John Fisher ... The Bombers wrecked Alfred at home Friday night by a score a 101-76 before squeaking by Fisher, 48-46, in a defensive battle on Saturday ... IC's three losses came at the hands of Clarkson (63-65), Cortland (67-84) and Oswego (58-64). Last season, the Bombers swept the Pioneers by scores of 84-73 and 110-96.
E8 Conference Standings: The Bombers sit atop the standings at 3-0 with Stevens trailing in second at 2-0 ... Fisher's 3-1 mark ranks them third with Utica close behind in fourth at 2-2 ... Nazareth occupies fifth with a 1-1 conference mark while Hartwick and Elmira share sixth place at 0-2 ... Alfred rounds out the standings with a winless record of 0-3 in the E8.
Pioneers Hit the Road: Following Tuesday's match, UC will hit the road for three straight games beginning Friday Jan. 11th against Houghton College for a 6 p.m. tip-off ... Houghton, a new Empire 8 member, is currently 0-11 on the season and needs to satisfy a 2-year waiting period before recognized in the conference standings ... Utica then heads to Rochester, NY on Saturday to face Nazareth College in E8 play before wrapping up the road trip in Bear country on Jan. 15th against SUNY Potsdam.
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