Utica, NY (2/19/14) - The Utica College men's basketball team looks to bounce back for the final weekend of the season after a pair of conference losses last weekend. The Pioneers will face Nazareth College at 6 p.m. on Friday and Houghton College at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Last Game: UC lost a pair of conference games last weekend… On Friday night at Alfred, the Pioneers pulled the game to within eight points with 18:51 remaining, but that was the closest they would get as the Saxons went on to win 116-94…  Six different Pioneers scored in double figures for the game …  On Saturday, Utica had the lead in the last 6:52, but Ithaca scored with four seconds left to squeak by the Pioneers 86-84 … Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) led the way for UC with 22 points and Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) chipped in with 21 of his own.

A Game for Brooks Miles: Saturday evening's game against Houghton will be the Pioneers' second annual "Game for Brooks Miles" … Brooks Miles Rorick was the son of Greg Rorick '98 and Angela Rorick, who passed away from heart complications shortly after he was born on April 1, 2008...  Greg and his wife Angela are cousins of UC Women's Basketball Head Coach Michele Davis... This year, the game will raise funds via bake sales and 50/50 raffle tickets for Kendall McNamara, daughter of former UC football offensive coordinator Jeff McNamara… Kendall was diagnosed with Leukemia in August 2013 … If you would like to make a donation to Kendall but can't attend the game, feel free to send a check to Michele Davis, Women's Basketball, Utica College, 1600 Burrstone Road, Utica, NY 13502. Please make the check payable to Jeff McNamara...  Coach Davis will send you a receipt for your donation...  Any questions feel free to email Michele Davis at mdavis@utica.edu.

Empire 8 Leaders: Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius)  is currently fifth in the Empire 8 Conference in scoring per game (16.7)…  Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) 18th (12.3) and Marion Lewis (Bronx, NY/Lehman) 20th (11.0) are also on the leader board, with Jeffers ranking fourth in rebounds per game (8.4) as well.

Career Records: Junior point guard Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) recently moved into seventh place on the College's all-time assist list… Nevins has 282 career assists and needs just 20 more to move into sole possession of sixth place on the list… Senior Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) currently ranks third on the College's career rebounding list with 624 over the course of the last three seasons… He needs 24 more to overtake Mark Carmichael (1987-90) for second all-time.

Golden Flyers Report: Nazareth is 17-7 overall and is 9-4 in the conference… Naz is coming off of two conference wins this past weekend against Elmira (75-49) and Alfred (87-80)… The Golden Flyers have a balanced scoring attack and have five players averaging over 9.7 points per game... Naz is third in the conference in scoring offense (78.6) and second in scoring defense (69.0).

Golden Flyers vs. Pioneers: In the first outing this season in Rochester, NY, Utica was handed an 93-84 loss…  Five players for the Golden Flyers scored in double figures as they netted eight three-pointers …  In the last 10 games between the two teams, Naz holds an 8-2 record over Utica... The Pioneers last win was on Jan. 22, 2013.

Highlanders Report: Houghton is 3-20 overall on the season… The Highlanders are coming off of a 100-59 loss to Stevens this past Saturday… The team has a balanced scoring attack and has four players averaging over nine points a game... Houghton is sixth in the conference in three-pointers made a game (5.8) and fourth in offensive rebounds per game (12.2).

Highlanders vs. Pioneers: In the first outing this season in Houghton, Utica edged the Highlanders  80-71…  Marion Lewis (Bronx, NY/Lehman) led the way for the Pioneers with 16 points as the team shot 48.3 %…  Utica and Houghton have only played three times (3-0 Utica) since the Highlanders joined NCAA Division III athletics in 2011.


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