Utica, NY – The Utica College men's basketball team are at home on Tuesday to face Empire 8 opponent Alfred University … The Pioneers will look to win their second straight as the game tips off at 5 p.m.
 
Last Time Out: In UC's last contest it defeated Hartwick College to earn its first win of the season … The team was led by freshman Hunter Remley (Cranford, NJ/Cranford), as he finished with a career-high of 27 points on 11-for-17 shooting … Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) earned a double double as he recorded 21 points and a season-high of 15 rebounds … Carl Taylor (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) played a well-rounded game as he produced eight points, seven assists, three rebounds and three steals in the contest … Utica controlled the lead from start to finish and held off a late comeback attempt from Hartwick to earn the 90-86 victory.
 
The Freshman Impact: The Pioneers earned their first win of the season against Hartwick with heavy contributions from the freshman class … Remley's career-high of 27 points was good for the high scorer in the game and is the highest scoring game by any Utica player so far this season … Miles McNeill (Rochester, NY/Aquinas) came off the bench in the contest to score 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting … Tyler Jollie (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro) scored all four of his points in the final 30 seconds of the game to secure the win at the free throw line … In a game where free throws were crucial, the freshman class went 8-for-10 at the foul line … Out of the team's total 90 points in the win, 46 of those points were scored by a freshman … It will be exciting to watch the growth of this young core.
 
Ball Movement is Key: In UC's last two games, the team has recorded its two highest shooting percentages of the season … The Pioneers shot 40.6% against Stevens and shot 57.4% in the win over Hartwick … The best way to shoot a high percentage is by taking good shots and the best way to take good shots is to get the ball to the open man … Utica has gotten the ball to the open man and have earned a season-high of 20 assists in each of the last two games … The great ball movement has been leading to strong shooting percentages which will lead to more victories for this Utica College team.
 
Remley's Heating Up: Hunter Remley (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) has now scored double digit points in five of the team's last six contests … Over the last six games, he has averaged a team best 16.7 points per game … He is now second on the team with a season average of 11.6 points per game, behind only Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining)'s 15.8 points per game … Remley has been the team's leading scorer in the last two games and has shot 58.6% (17-for-29) over the two game span … He is also the Pioneers' top 3-point shooter with a total of 24 made 3-point field goals so far this year ... The conference selected Remley as the Empire 8 Men's Basketball Rookie of the Week (Jan 2-8) on Monday.
 
Team Leaders: Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) remains the team's leader in both points and rebounds, as he averages 15.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game … Iton is currently ninth in the Empire 8 in the scoring category and third in rebounding … Iton also leads the team and the Empire 8 is blocks, averaging 1.2 a game … Remley is now second on the team in scoring with his 11.6 points per game and is ranked third in the conference with a 3-point percentage of 40.7% … Bennito Ayarza (Brooklyn, NY/Cayuga Community College) leads the Pioneers with averages of 3.4 assists and two steals per game … Ayarza is ranked ninth in the conference in assists and is ranked first in the conference in steals.
 
Scouting Alfred: The Alfred University Saxons are currently sitting at an overall record of 5-7 and are 2-1 in Empire 8 competition … The team lost their last contest in a conference matchup with St. John Fisher College, 64-61 … Alfred shot only 36% from the field and were out-rebounded, 40-31, in the game … Tyler Seelman scored well for the Saxons with a game-high of 20 points … Seelman is the team's leading scorer as he averages 16.9 points per game which is ranked eighth in the Empire 8 … Sage Brown is Alfred's top rebounder as he averages 6.1 rebounds and 11.6 points per game … The team is 1-4 on the road overall this season.
 
Against Alfred: The Pioneers last defeated the Saxons during the 2014-2015 season by a score of 81-75 … UC had five players score in the double figures in the contest, including Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) who finished with 13 points and five rebounds … In the last meeting between these two teams, Alfred came away with the 76-70 victory … Senior Agim Hamiti (Prishtina, Kosovo/Syracuse Academy of Science), led the team in scoring and rebounding with 21 points and seven boards … UC had trouble holding onto the ball, registering 29 turnovers in the contest which led to Alfred scoring 28 points off of turnovers … Tyler Seelman was the high man for the Saxons as he scored 17 points in the game.
 
Looking Ahead: The Utica College men's basketball team will be on the road for its next game … The Pioneers will be taking on Nazareth College, Thursday night, for another Empire 8 matchup … Opening tip is scheduled for 8 p.m.