UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's basketball team improved to 3-0 at home this year as the Pioneers cruised to a 99-73 victory over visiting Anna Maria in the first semifinal game of the Utica College Basketball Classic at the Clark Athletic Center on Friday afternoon.  The Pioneers advanced to Saturday's Championship game and will take on Oswego State, who defeated Canton (77-70) in the other semifinal game, at 5 p.m.

The Pioneers improved to 4-4 overall on the season as they were led by an 18 point effort from senior point guard Bennito Ayarza (Brooklyn, NY/Cayuga Community College).  Five players scored in double figures for Utica, including Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) who added 14 points and three rebounds.  Joe Stortini (Rhinebeck, NY/RIT) chipped in with 12 points, while Hunter Remley (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) came off the bench and netted 12 points.  Justin Strielkauskas (Waterbury, CT/Holy Cross) also gave the Pioneers a spark off the bench with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

Anna Maria was led by a double-double from big man Mike Rapoza, who finished with a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds.  Kenneth Graham added 16 points for the Amcats. 

The Pioneers scored 36 points in the paint, 27 points off of turnovers and got 45 of their 99 total points from their bench in the victory.

Utica's first double-digit lead of the game came at the 10 minute mark of the first half after freshman Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) drilled a jumper to give the home team a 28-17 advantage. Lufkin finished the night with eight points.

UC's lead diminished to six points, 36-30, with 3:46 to go in the first half before the Pioneers used a  10-3 run to close out the half to take a 46-33 lead into the locker room after 20 minutes of action.

The Pioneers pushed their lead to 21 points, 60-39, less than five minutes into the second half.  The Amcats then went on an 18-12 run and trailed by 15 points, 72-57, with 7:09 left in the contest.

Utica controlled the remainder of the contest and led by as many as 26 points as the final horn sounded.

UC sophomore Jake Kulakowski (Brewerton, NY/Central Square) posted six points and five rebounds, while Tyler Jollie (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro) added five points in five minutes of work. Freshman Shawn Gashi (Central Square, NY/Bishop Grimes) and senior Carl Taylor (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) each added four points for Utica, while Ryan Johannes (Southbury, CT/Catholic University) knocked down a triple to finish the day with three points in three minutes.

The Pioneers shot 58.1% from the floor and 86.4% from the charity stripe on the afternoon.

Anna Maria will take on SUNY Canton at 3 p.m. in Saturday's consolation contest.