UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's basketball team outscored visiting SUNY Canton 34-33 in the second half, but it was not enough to overcome a 22 point halftime deficit as the Kangaroos topped the Pioneers 79-58 in non-conference action at the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium on Tuesday night. 

The Pioneers (2-4) snapped a two game hot streak which included wins over Chatham and SUNY Polytechnic.  Utica returns to action on Monday when it travels to Misericordia University to take on the Cougars at 6 p.m. in Dallas, Pennsylvania.

Ten different players scored at least one point for the Pioneers, including senior Robert Tutein (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) and sophomore Carl Taylor (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick), who led the way with 10 points each.  Tutein also added three blocks. Jawan Simmons (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham) added eight points and five rebounds, while Seamus McHugh (Latham, NY/Shaker) came off the bench and scored nine points on 3-of-7 shooting from the floor.  Utica's Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) chipped in with five points and five rebounds. 

Canton's Sam Annorh drilled a game-high 27 points while Ramario Fletcher chipped in with 22 points and 14 rebounds. 

Canton dominated play in the paint in the first half, scoring 24 of its 46 points from close range.  The Kangaroos also took advantage of Pioneer miscues, converting 27 total points off of 21 Utica turnovers over the course of the contest. 

The Pioneers came out hot in the second half, outscoring the Roos 13-0 in the first 4:30 of the second half to cut their double-digit deficit to just nine, 46-37.  Unfortunately for the Pioneers, that was as close as they would get as the visitors were able to extend their lead back to as many as 23 points prior to the final buzzer sounding.