Utica, NY – The Utica College men's basketball team will be on the road for two key Empire 8 contests over the weekend … The Pioneers will face Houghton College on Friday, as the game begins at 8 p.m. … On Saturday, the team will battle Alfred University starting at 4 p.m.
 
Last Time Out: In UC's last contest, the team suffered a loss at the hands of Hartwick College, with a final score of 87-72 … Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) led the team in points and rebounds as he finished with 25 points and a season-high 17 boards to earn a double-double … Christian Rodriguez (Queens, NY/Cayuga Community College) provided a spark off the bench, recording a season-high of 16 points on 4-for-5 shooting from 3-point territory … Carl Taylor (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) added ten points and seven rebounds of his own in the contest … The loss drops the Pioneers record to 6-15 overall and 6-6 in the Empire 8.
 
Conference Standings: Now that the Pioneers' in conference record stands at 6-6, the team is currently in the fifth spot in the conference rankings … With only the top four teams making it to the Empire 8 Conference Tournament, UC has some work to do to regain the fourth spot … The top four teams at the moment are St. John Fisher (11-1 E8), Stevens (10-2), Nazareth (8-4), and Hartwick (8-5) … With the Pioneers one and half games behind for the fourth slot, they need to close out the regular season strong to fight for the final spot in the conference tournament.
 
Final Stretch: The Empire 8 Conference Tournament approaches as the regular season starts to come to a close … Utica has four games remaining in the regular season to earn a spot in the tournament … The bad news is that the Pioneers are currently behind Hartwick for the fourth seed … The good news is that the four remaining games for the team are all against opponents that the Pioneers defeated earlier this season … With every game having a significant impact on the standings, UC will be confident heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
 
Statistical Leaders: Iton continues to lead the team in points, rebounds, and blocks … He is ranked eighth in the conference in scoring with 17.1 points per game, second in rebounding with 9.7 boards per game, and first in blocks with two per game … Bennito Ayarza (Brooklyn, NY/Cayuga Community College) leads the team in assists, averaging 2.9 per game … Ayarza leads the team and is ranked second in the Empire 8 with his 1.7 steals per game.
 
Scouting Houghton: The Highlanders hold a record of 8-13 overall and are 3-9 in conference play … The team most recently lost to Nazareth with the final score being 90-83 … Five players reached double digits for Houghton in the contest … Phil Pellegrino led the team with 21 points, while Jonathan Stowe led the team in rebounds finishing with 18 points and 14 boards … Dylan Lamber is the team's leading scorer as his average of 18.6 points per game ranks him second in the Empire 8 in scoring … Stowe leads the conference in rebounds per game with an average of 10.3 boards per game.
 
Against Houghton: In the previous matchup between Utica and Houghton this season, Utica came away with the 67-53 win … Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) earned a double-double in the game, as he tallied 12 points and 14 rebounds … Carl Taylor (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) led the Pioneers in scoring, finishing with 17 points, five assists, five rebounds, and four steals in the contest … Ayarza and Hunter Remley (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) both added 10 points for UC in the game … The Pioneers only turned the ball over six times all game, while Houghton had 15 turnovers.
 
Scouting Alfred: The Saxons are currently sitting at a record of 8-13 overall and are 5-7 in conference play … The team's most recent loss to St. John Fisher, 68-64, makes it two losses in a row for Alfred … In the loss to St. John Fisher, Tyler Seelman led the team in scoring with 11 points while Julian Reinhart added 10 points of his own … Seelman is the leading scorer on the team, averaging 14.6 points per game.
 
Against Alfred: The first time UC met up with Alfred University, UC earned the 62-61 victory … Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) ended the game with a double-double, recording 17 points, 15 rebounds, and seven blocks … Hunter Remley (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) scored 17 points for the Pioneers, shooting 4-for-7 from behind the 3-point arc … The Pioneers shot 49% from the field in the game while holding Alfred to a field goal percentage of 37.5%.
 
Looking Ahead: The Pioneers will return to action on Valentine's Day, February 14^th, as they play host to Ithaca College … The contest is scheduled to start at 8 p.m.