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UTICA, NY (November 15, 2013) - The Utica College men's basketball team opens up its 2013-14 campaign on the road Friday as the Pioneers travel to Hilbert College to participate in the 4th annual Hilbert Tip-Off Tournament.  The Pioneers open up with St. Lawrence University at 6 p.m.

EMPIRE 8 PLAYOFF APPEARANCE: The Utica College men's basketball team finished the 2012-13 season with a 12-14 overall record, including an 8-6 mark in Empire 8 Conference play ...  The Pioneers earned the No. 4 seed in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament for the first time since 2009, before being knocked off by top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology … UC won five of its final six regular season contests, including key victories over Ithaca College and Elmira College to earn the fourth and final seed in the conference tournament … The Pioneers return three of their five starters from last year's roster, including Conor Maisch (Kingston, NY/John A. Coleman), Aaron Nevis and Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn).

COACH CONNOLLY: Utica Head Coach Chris Connolly, who is the fifth coach in program-history, enters his sixth season as head coach of the Utica College men's basketball team … He has 58 victories in five full seasons at the helm including 34 wins in the competitive E8 conference … Two years ago he guided the Pioneers to a tournament title at the Hilbert Tip-Off Tournament.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN: The Pioneers will be led by senior forward Conor Maisch (Kingston, NY/John A. Coleman), was named the preseason Empire 8 Player of the Year and a preseason Honorable Mention All-American by smallcollegehoops.com DIII News …  Maisch heads into his final campaign after leading the nation in three point shooting percentage across the board, in Division I, II and III last season … Maisch shot an impressive 52.8% from behind the arc on 161 attempts.

FLOOR GENERAL: Junior point guard Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) is the Pioneers' court general and finished last season ranked third on the team with an average of 11.4 points and 3.9 assists, which ranked sixth in the conference … Nevins was the only player on the roster to record over 100 assists last season … In 50 career games Nevins has 509 points and 192 assists … Jeffers also ranked second on the team with 28 steals last season. 

WORK HORSE: UC also returns double-double man Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn), a senior forward, who average 12.7 points and 8.6 rebounds per game a year ago … His 8.6 rebounds per game ranked second in the conference last season … In two full seasons with the Pioneers he has 484 points and 432 rebounds, good for an average of 9.9 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. 

LEWIS LOOKS TO CONTRIBUTE: UC's Marion Lewis (Bronx, NY/Lehman) will likely enter into the starting lineup after playing the role of sixth-man last season … Lewis averaged 9.3 points per game off the bench last year and averaged 20.1 minutes of playing time.

FELICIA BROTHERS: Twin brothers Mark and Marty Felicia (Phoenix, NY/Phoenix) will look to contribute in the post this season … Marty, a 6-foot-8 forward, will see more action this season after bulking up in the weight room during the offseason … Marty scored 25 points and added 26 rebounds off the bench last year.

OTHER NOTABLES: Senior Rich Smith (Albany, NY/La Salle Institute) played in 18 games last season and will continue to see more playing time as he improves with each offseason … Sophomore Griffin Kelly (Watervliet, NY/Watervliet) is one of the most athletic players on the Pioneers roster and will likely see more playing time this year  after playing in 11 games as a freshman … Backup point guard Robert Tutein (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) played in 15 games a freshman and will give Nevins a breather off the bench this season … Sophomore Chaston Richardson (Middletown, NY/Middletown) also returns after playing in eight games one year ago …

NEWCOMERS: The Pioneers welcome seven fresh faces to the roster this season, including forward Pape Konteye, forward Jon Pimentel (Bronx, NY/John F. Kennedy), swing man Agim Hamiti (Prishtina, Kosovo/Syracuse Academy of Science), guard Ian Henderson (Chateaugay, NY/Chateaugay), guard Michael Howard (Bronx, NY/John F. Kennedy), guard Kendal Brown and guard Nygil Thomas.

KEY LOSSES: The Pioneers lost starters Matt Baldwin (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) and Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School) to graduation last Spring … Baldwin averaged 12.5 points per game last year and ranked second on the team with 63 3-pointers … Ward averaged 7.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in his senior campaign.