UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's basketball returns to the court on this Friday and Saturday as it hosts the Utica College Basketball Classic at the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.  The Pioneers will host Anna Maria College, SUNY Canton and Oswego State over the course of the four-game, two-day tournament.

Tournament Schedule: Utica will host Anna Maria in the tournament opener on Friday at 4 p.m. followed by the second semifinal contest between Oswego and Canton at 6 p.m.  The consolation game will be played at 3 p.m. on Saturday followed by the championship game at 5 p.m.

Follow the Action Live:  All four games this weekend will be broadcast on Pioneers All-Access at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/ … Utica College play-by-play announcer Ray Biggs will be on the call for both Utica College games.

Unbeaten at Home: The Pioneers are looking to extend their two-game unbeaten streak at home this weekend … Utica has home wins over Cazenovia and Morrisville State so far this season … UC is currently 3-4 overall on the year and looks to get back above .500 with two wins this weekend.

Iton Solidifying a Great Career: Senior forward Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) needs just 54 more points to become the 16^th player in program-history to break the 1,000 point barrier … Iton also needs five more rebounds to reach 600 for his career and looks to become just the fourth player in program history to register 1,000 points and collect 500 rebounds in his career … Iton currently ranks in the top ten in the Empire 8 with an average of 15.4 points per game this season … He ranks third in the conference with 9.4 rebounds per game and he is also third in the league with 1.6 blocks per game.

Stortini Scoring: Senior guard Joe Stortini (Rhinebeck, NY/RIT) ranks second on the team with an average of 13.9 points per game this season … He has two 20+ scoring performances, including a 26 point effort against Morrisville on December 6^th.

Floor General: Senior point guard Bennito Ayarza (Brooklyn, NY/Cayuga Community College) ranks third on the team with an average of 7.4 points per game … He leads the team with 3.3 assists per game and he is also contributing on the glass with an average of 3.9 rebounds per game.

Freshman Coming on Strong: Freshman guard Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) is coming on strong as of late and currently ranks fourth on the team with an average of 6.9 points per game … He leads the team with 13 3-pointers this season.

Making a Name for Himself: Sophomore Jake Kulakowski (Brewerton, NY/Central Square) has started five straight games after coming off the bench for the first two … He has scored 15 points twice this season, including a 15 point, nine rebound performance against Hamilton on December 1^st. 

Thank You to Our Sponsors: The Utica College Baseball Classic is made possible in part by the help of the following sponsors: Cintas, Swifty's, Dick Smith's, NorthWestern Mutual and Franco's Pizza.