UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's basketball team lost a close one against visiting Empire 8 Conference opponent Houghton 91-83 on Saturday afternoon. Agim Hamiti (Prishtina, Kosovo/Syracuse Academy of Science) scored a team high 29 points while Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) had a double-double pulling down 19 rebounds and putting up 16 points.

Utica's record fell to 4-9 overall and 1-4 in the Empire 8. The Pioneers return to action on Tuesday January 19 as they travel to take on conference opponent St. John Fisher. Houghton improved to 6-8 overall and won its first conference game improving to 1-5 in E8 play.

The Highlanders had four player who scored 10 or more points and were led by Phil Pellegrino who scored a game high 30 points while Tyler McQuaid was second on the team and chipped in 16 points.

Houghton outscored UC 45-33 in the first half and used an 18-12 run to build the lead to a game high 18 points in the first seven minutes of the second half. Utica pulled within four points with 26 seconds left to play but couldn't cap off the comeback.

Robert Tutein (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) was the only other UC player to score in double-digits and tallied 16 points on the afternoon. Carl Taylor (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) and Seamus McHugh (Latham, NY/Shaker) each had seven points on the day.