Box Score
Pittsford, NY (January 17, 2014) – The Nazareth College men's basketball team pulled away from visiting Utica College late in the second half to earn a 93-84 victory over the Pioneers in Empire 8 Conference action at Kidera Gymnasium Friday night.

Utica point guard Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) led all scorers with 26 points (12-of-13 from the free throw line) but it was not enough as the Pioneers dropped to 6-8 overall and 1-4 in league play. UC has now lost five of its last six games and hopes to buck the trend on Saturday when the Pioneers travel down East Avenue to take on the Cardinals of St. John Fisher College in E8 action at 2 p.m.

Utica's Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) finished the night with 14 points and five rebounds, while sophomore Robert Tutein (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) finished with 11 points off the bench. UC's Marty Felicia (Phoenix, NY/Phoenix) capped the night with nine points.

Naz jumped out to a 15-3 lead in the first 3:18 of the contest behind a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the floor, including a 3-for-3 effort from 3-point land. Jack Giles led the way for the Golden Flyers in the charge with six points. A combined seven points from Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) and Robert Tutein (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) helped the Pioneers go on a 9-2 run over the course of 1:50 (4-for-4 shooting from the floor) as UC cut its deficit to 17-12 just over five minutes into the contest.

Utica then used a 23-13 run in the final 7:49 of the first half and the Pioneers trailed by just one point, 43-42, as the halftime horn sounded. Jeffers sparked the UC run with 12 of the 23 points and Nevins chipped in with six points in the late first half run. Jeffers scored the Pioneers' final eight points of the half and finished the first 20 minutes with a game-high 14 points. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, Jeffers was held scoreless for the entire second half.

Utica opened the second half on a 10-5 run in a span of 1:56 to take its first lead since the opening tip, 52-50, with 17:27 remaining in regulation. Naz stormed back with a 5-0 run behind a 3-point play and a dunk from former Utica Proctor star Maurice Mills as the home team took a 55-52 lead with 16:47 left.

The Pioneers followed with a 12-7 run of their own, sparked by a 3-pointer each from Ian Henderson (Chateaugay, NY/Chateaugay) and Kendall Brown (Queens, NY/Benjamin Cardozo), to give UC its final lead of the game, 64-62, with 12:21 left.

Naz finished the contest by outscoring UC 31-20 in the final 12:15 of the contest to earn the nine point victory.

All five of the Nazareth starters scored in double-figures as the Golden Flyers won their second straight conference game and improved to 9-5 overall and 3-2 in the E8. Jack Giles led the way for Naz with 19 points, while Maurice Mills, Brad Ford and Mitch Ford each netted 18 points for the Golden Flyers.

The highly contested game featured 10 ties and four lead changes. UC was able to tie the score on seven different occasions but they could not seem to pull away. 22 offensive rebounds for the home team led to 30 second chance points, which proved to be a pivotal stat in the contest.