UTICA, NY -- The third seeded Utica College men's basketball team punched its ticket into the Empire 8 Conference Tournament last Saturday and will travel to St. John Fisher College on Friday to take on second seeded Stevens Institute of Technology at 8 p.m.

Tickets: Tickets can be purchased at the door … Tickets prices are $5 for adults and $3 for students/seniors.

Live Options: The St. John Fisher College athletics communications department will provide live video and stats for all three tournament games … Live video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/sjfc/ … Live stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/sjfc/mbball/.

Hot Heading into the Tourney: The Pioneers, who are riding a four game winning streak into the tournament, capped the regular season with a 10-15 overall record and a 10-6 ledger in the Empire 8 … Utica now has a shot to make a run in the Empire 8 Tournament and possibly earn an automatic bid into the Division III NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006 ... The last time UC won 10 or more conference games in the regular season was back in 2009.

Tournament Quick Facts: UC is the lone newcomer to the 2017 E8 Tournament, which also features three returners from the 2016 tournament (Fisher, Stevens and Nazareth) … Utica is playing in its seventh E8 tournament and first since 2013 … The Pioneers have played in the title game three times, but have never won an E8 championship.

Empire 8 Tournament: The number one seed in the tournament was awarded to host St. John Fisher as the Cardinals finished with a record of 20-5 overall, and 15-1 in conference play … Fisher is set to face the number four seed Nazareth at 6 p.m. on Friday … Nazareth's record of 15-10 overall and 9-7 in the Empire 8, includes one win over St. John Fisher … Nazareth is the only team in the Empire 8 Conference to defeat Fisher during the regular season … The winner of this matchup will face the winner of No. 2 Stevens vs. No. 3 Utica on Saturday for the Empire 8 Conference crown.
 
UC's Tournament History: The Pioneers last appearance in the Empire 8 Tournament was during the 2012-13 season when they lost in the semifinals to the top seeded Stevens … Utica was unable to slow down Stevens' hot shooting as the final score of the game was 102-66 … During the 2005-06 season the Pioneers defeated Ithaca College in the semifinals to make it to the Empire 8 Tournament Championship game against St. John Fisher … UC fell in the finals to Fisher by a score of 74-61, but still earned an at-large bid into the Division III NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 23-7… The 2005-06 Pioneers defeated both Gordon College and WPI to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Iton's Career Year: Junior forward Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) turned in the most productive year of his collegiate career this season, averaging career-highs of 17.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game … Iton finished the regular season ranked eighth in the Empire 8 in scoring, first in rebounding, and first in blocked shots … He was able to reach double digit points in all but two games throughout the entire regular season ... He even tallied his career-high in points against Nazareth, finishing with 30 points and nine rebounds (1/12/17) ... Iton averaged 18.5 points and six rebounds per game in the two previous matchups against Stevens this season.

Ayarza Finishing Strong: Junior point guard Bennito Ayarza (Brooklyn, NY/Cayuga Community College) is second on the team in scoring, with an average of 10.6 points per game and leads the team with 3.1 assists per game … Ayarza increased his scoring production in the second half of the season … Through the first 12 games of the season, he was averaging 7.3 points per game and only reached double digits in scoring three times … However, in the last 13 games of the regular season, Ayarza has found his stride, averaging 13.6 points per game while scoring double digits in 11 of those games … He stepped up his play during the team's recent four game winning streak, as he has averaged 17.8 points per game over the last four contests ... In two prior meetings with Stevens this season, Ayarza has averaged 11.5 points per game. 

Taylor's Midseason Surge: Through the first 11 games of the regular season, junior Carl Taylor (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) was averaging just 3.7 points per game … In the next seven games though, Taylor would average 16.0 points per game including a career-high of 27 points in a win over Elmira … Taylor has fought his way up the team's scoring leader board as he finished the regular season with an average of 8.0 points per game, the fourth highest on the team ... Against Stevens during the regular season, he averaged 12.0 points per game in two matchups. 
 
Top Freshman Scorer: Hunter Remley (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) finished the regular season ranked third on the team in scoring … He averaged 9.0 points per game in his first collegiate season and led the team in 3-point field goals made with 43 … Over a stretch of seven games during the season (12/2/16 – 1/10/17), he was posting an average of 16.7 points per game … During this stretch, he made 22 3-point field goals and recorded his career-high of 27 points against Hartwick, helping the Pioneers earn their first win of the season ... Remley averaged 11.0 points per game against Stevens during the two regular season matchups.  

Coffey's Return to the E8 Tournament: First year Head Coach Sean Coffey has guided the Pioneers to their first appearance in the conference tournament since 2013 … Although the season did not start off well, as Utica lost their first ten games, Coffey's efforts have helped to turn the Pioneers' season around … In the second half of the season, UC won ten out of its last 15 games and finished the regular season on a four game win streak … Coffey is no stranger to the Empire 8 Conference Tournament as he made three appearances in the Empire 8 Tournament as an assistant coach for the St. John Fisher Cardinals … In 2014-15, Coffey was a part of the coaching staff that won the E8 tournament and earned an automatic bid into the Division III NCAA Tournament.  

Scouting Stevens: The Stevens Ducks are 18-7 overall and 11-5 in the Empire 8 this season … The Ducks wrapped up their 2016-17 regular season with 94-86 overtime win against Nazareth College at home on Saturday … Senior Evan Klimchak recorded a team-high 22 points in the overtime victory, while sophomore Ryan Coffey and freshman Colin McKenna each recorded a double-double… Klimchak is the team's top scorer as he averaged 18.5 points and 3.1 assists per game and was ranked fourth in the Empire 8 in scoring … He also led the conference with a free throw shooting percentage of 87.5% … Spencer Cook is also a reliable asset for Stevens as he averaged 13.2 points per game during the regular season.

Against the Ducks: Stevens swept Utica in the regular season, but in the Pioneers last matchup on the Ducks' home court they lost by just one point (78-77) … Bennito Ayarza (Brooklyn, NY/Cayuga Community College) gave Utica a 77-75 lead with 14 seconds left on the game clock when he drove the lane and sunk a clutch floater … However, Evan Klimchak netted the game-winning 3-pointer with six seconds left to steal the game away from UC … In that contest, Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) led the all scorers with 29 points, on 11-of-16 shooting, while adding nine boards … Ayarza finished with 19 points while Carl Taylor (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) added 11 of his own … The Pioneers will look to beat Stevens for the first time since the 2008-09 season, and earn a chance to play for the Empire 8 Conference Championship on Saturday. 

Looking Ahead: If the Pioneers upset Stevens, then they will play the winner of the St. John Fisher and Nazareth game on Saturday at 4 p.m.