Utica, NY – The Utica College men's basketball team outscored visiting Houghton College 19-4 in the first 7:24 of the second half, to take a 51-40 lead with 12:36 left in regulation, to help the Pioneers earn a convincing 67-53 victory in Empire 8 Conference action Saturday at the Clark Athletic Center.

The Pioneers (4-12, 4-3 E8) outscored the visitors 35-17 in the second half on their way to earning their fourth Empire 8 victory of the season.  UC has now matched its Empire 8 win total from last year.

Junior Carl Taylor (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) had another productive evening as he posted a team-high 17 points, five assists, five rebounds and four steals. Junior Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) added 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds to collect his fifth double-double of the season.

Freshman Hunter Remley (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) and junior Bennito Ayarza (Brooklyn, NY/Cayuga Community College) each added ten points on the afternoon to pace the Pioneers. Utica shot 48.28% from the floor in the second half to rally for the key conference victory.

Houghton jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first 6:52 of the contest after a layup by Jordan Scott. UC answered with a 7-0 run in the next 1:06 to take a one point lead, 11-10, with 12:02 left in the first half of play.

The visitors then rallied with a 19-6 run to take a convincing 12 point lead, 29-17, with 4:45 remaining in the first half. UC remained in the game and trailed by four points, 36-32, as the halftime horn sounded.

Utica took the lead back 2:11 into the second half of play and never looked back. The Pioneers earned a double-digit lead midway through the second half until the Highlanders made one last push.  They cut their deficit to as few as six points, 53-47, with 7:14 remaining, but that was as close as they would get. Utica moved its lead back to double-digits with 2:47 remaining and eventually earned the 14 point victory as the final buzzer sounded.

Houghton's record dropped to 7-9 overall and 2-5 in the Empire 8. Dylan Lambert posted 15 points and ten rebounds for the Highlanders, while Jonathan Stowe added 14 points and ten rebounds.

Freshman Tyler Jollie (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro) came off the bench and posted eight points for the Pioneers.

Utica returns to the hardwood to wrap up the first half of its Empire 8 schedule on Tuesday when it travels to Ithaca College to take on the Bombers at 8 p.m.