UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's basketball team earned its fourth win in five games as the Pioneers topped visiting Elmira College 78-59 in Empire 8 Conference action on Friday night.  Utica senior point guard Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) led all scorers with 20 points and he also dished out nine assists and pulled in five rebounds. 

Three other Pioneers scored in double figures as Utica improved to 8-10 overall and 4-5 in Empire 8 play.  Elmira dropped its third straight conference game as its record fell to 6-10 overall and 4-5 in the conference. Utica avenged an early season loss (75-64) to the Soaring Eagles back on January 9^th. 

Utica won the turnover battle 15-5, and those 15 caused turnovers resulted in 23 points on the other end, as the Pioneers shot 52.2% (24-46) from the floor to earn their second largest win of the season (19 point victory). 

Utica fell into an early 10-7 hole in the first 5:25 of the game but the Pioneers answered with a 29-10 run in the next 10:14 of the first half to take a commanding 36-20 lead with 4:21 to go before the half.  UC was 10-for-14 from the floor in the stretch and 4-for-6 from downtown while causing five turnovers. Nevins led UC with seven points in the run.

Elmira put together an 8-2 run to close out the first half and the score was set at 38-28 at the intermission.

UC opened the second half with a 15-10 run in a span of 4:36 to extend its lead to 53-40. Sophomore Agim Hamiti (Prishtina, Kosovo/Syracuse Academy of Science) paved the way for the Pioneers in the early second half stretch with eight points.  Hamiti finished the night with 11 points and two steals. 

Elmira cut its deficit to seven points midway through the second half but that was as close as they would get. The Pioneers outscored the visitors 15-6 in the final 5:42 to earn the convincing 19 point victory. 

Utica's Robert Tutein (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) netted 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting from 3-point range while senior forward Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) added 12 points, five rebounds and three steals.  Senior Conor Maisch (Kingston, NY/John A. Coleman) came off the bench once again and scored nine points, while senior Ian Henderson (Chateaugay, NY/Chateaugay) netted both of his 3-point attempts for a total of six points.

David Borelli led the way for the Soaring Eagles with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Hayden Harkins and Matt Davis each added nine points apiece. 

The Pioneers return Saturday for game two of the Empire 8 weekend set as they play host to Stevens Institute of Technology at 4 p.m.