Box Score Utica, NY (1/11/2014) – The Utica College men's basketball team snapped a four game skid and earned its first Empire 8 Conference victory of the season after a convincing 87-73 victory over visiting Ithaca College on Saturday afternoon at the Harold T. Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.

UC improved to 6-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play, while the Bombers fell to 4-9 on the year and remain winless at 0-4 in the Empire 8.

Ithaca dropped the game's first bucket to take a 2-0 and would hold the edge for the first five minutes before the home Pioneers would show their home court confidence.  UC took the lead 7-6, at 13:52 and never looked back as it used a 21-10 run to move the score 28-16 with 7:24 to play in the first half. The teams battled for the remainder of the first 20 as Utica took a 13 point cushion into the break, 45-32.

Ithaca fought back in the second half however never pulled to within less than nine points as the Pioneers recorded their first Empire 8 win of the season.  The bombers outshot UC in the second half 50.9% to an even 50% but would fall 87-73 to remain winless at 0-4 in conference play. Utica hit 14-of-19 from the free throw line for 73.7% making up for a dismal outing last night at the line which proved big late in this afternoon's game.

Four different Pioneers scored in double figures including junior point guard Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) (19), Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) (14) and Marty Felicia (Phoenix, NY/Phoenix) (12), and junior transfer Ian Henderson (Chateaugay, NY/Chateaugay) (11).

The Pioneers opened up a quick 21-9 lead in the first 9:54 of the first half behind six points from Felicia and a combined 15 points from Jeffers, Nevins, Agim Hamiti (Prishtina, Kosovo/Syracuse Academy of Science), Henderson and Marion Lewis (Bronx, NY/Lehman).

The Pioneers will hit the road next weekend when they travel to Rochester, NY to take on Nazareth College and St. John Fisher College in consecutive days. UC will take on the Golden Flyers Friday at 6 p.m., before traveling down East Avenue to square off against the Cardinals at 2 p.m.