UTICA, NY (1-2-13) – The Utica College men's basketball team hits the road this weekend as it opens up Empire 8 Conference play at Stevens Institute of Technology … The Pioneers travel to Hoboken, NJ Friday night before heading to Oneonta, NY on Saturday to face Hartwick College.

Conference Opening Weekend

UC will have a 6 p.m. tip off Friday night against the Stevens Ducks at the Walker Gym … Follow the Link for LIVE STATS … Directions to Stevens (Walker Gym) … On Saturday, the squad journeys back upstate to face nearby rival Hartwick College at the Lambros Arena for a 3 p.m. afternoon tip … Follow the Links for LIVE STATS and VIDEO … Directions to Hartwick (Lambros Arena).

UC in Hunt of First Road Win

UC (5-3 overall, 0-2 road) is undefeated at home however winless on the road  and look to step up this weekend in the conference opener and get its first victory away from home … The Pioneers are averaging 82.6 points per game and have already hit triple digits with a big 100-86 win over SUNY Canton.

Pioneers Leading the Way

Junior point guard Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) is leading the way for UC in five major categories including points (20.9 p/g), assists (4.9 a/g), steals (2.0 stl/g), field goal percentage (.500%) and free throws (.750%) … Senior two-sport athlete Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) is presence on the glass every game … Jeffers is currently averaging a double-double on 13.6 points and 11.9 boards per contest … He opened up the season with four straight and has five total so far this season … Junior Marion Lewis (Bronx, NY/Lehman), last season's sixth-man, is seeing increased time and has worked his way into the starting lineup … Lewis is averaging 11.7 points, 4.3 boards and 1.6 assists per game.

Scouting the Ducks

Stevens is currently 4-3 overall including a 3-1 mark on their home court … After losing its season-opener, 62-51, to New Jersey City University the Ducks have been tough losing the other two lgames by a combined seven points … SIT is presently riding a two-game winning streak after defeating Baruch College and New York University in Hoboken … The  Ducks wrapped up last season with a 22-6 overall record including an impressive 11-1 record at home … Stevens knocked the Pioneers out of the first round of the E8 tourney convincingly before losing to Ithaca in the championship.

The "Wick" Report

Hartwick College holds a 4-5 overall record and has dropped three of its last four ... The Hawks hold a 1-2 mark on their home court with both losses coming by a combined eight points … They most recently lost, 78-72 at home to Hobart and on Nov. 24th 71-69 to Oswego State ... Last season, Wick finished 12-13 overall while posting an 8-4 mark at Lambros.

Back to the Clark Confines

Following this weekend, Utica returns home for a three-game stint at the friendly confines of the Clark Athletic Center where Coach Connolly's crew is a perfect 3-0 … UC welcomes cross town rival SUNYIT on Tuesday, Jan. 7th for a 2 p.m. afternoon start … The Pioneers then will host back-to-back conference games against Elmira and Ithaca … Elmira comes to town on Friday, Jan. 10th for a 6 p.m. set tip followed by the Bombers on Saturday, Jan.
11th scheduled for 2 p.m.