UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's basketball team opens up Empire 8 Conference play on Tuesday night when the Pioneers host St. John Fisher College at the Clark Athletic Center at 6 p.m.

Big Week Ahead: Utica has a big week ahead of itself as the Pioneers host perennial power St. John Fisher on Tuesday night before welcoming conference opponent Nazareth on Friday night at 6 p.m.

Protect this House: Utica is now 4-0 at home this season, outscoring opponents 327-278 over the course of four victories at the Clark Athletic Center … Five of the Pioneers next six games are conference contests at home.

Utica Basketball Classic: Utica earned two victories at home this past weekend to take home the Utica Basketball Classic title … The Pioneers had their best offensive output and largest margin of victory this season on Friday night as they topped visiting Anna Maria 99-73 in the first semifinal game of the tournament … Five different players scored in double figures for UC … Utica led by as many as 16 points early in the second half and held on to earn a 66-63 victory over visiting Oswego State Saturday night in the championship game …  Oswego, a team that has made three consecutive NCAA Tournaments including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2015-16, snapped a five game winning streak with the loss to the Pioneers.

Tournament MVP: Senior point guard Bennito Ayarza (Brooklyn, NY/Cayuga Community College) led Utica with an average of 18.0 points, 6.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals, on his way to earning tournament MVP honors, as the Pioneers won the Utica Basketball Classic title this past weekend … Ayarza scored 18 points and grabbed four rebounds in Utica's win over Anna Maria in the semifinals on Friday … He added 18 points and nine assists in Utica's championship game victory over Oswego … He currently ranks third on the team with an average of 9.8 points per contest … He also ranks sixth in the league with an average of 3.9 assists per game.

Follow the Action Live:  All home games are 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 the contest. 

Finding Their Stride: Utica has won four of its last six games and recently pushed its record to 5-4 overall on the year.

Iton Solidifying a Great Career: Senior forward Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) needs just 30 more points to become the 16th player in program-history to break the 1,000 point barrier … Iton recently eclipsed 600 rebounds 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 12 in the Empire 8 with an average of 14.7 points per game this season … He ranks fifth in the conference with 8.3 rebounds per game and he is also first in the league with 1.8 blocks per game.

Players to Keep an Eye On: Sophomore classmates Hunter Remley (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) and Tyler Jollie (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro) both had productive weekends off the bench for Utica … Remley averaged 9.0 points per game this weekend, including a season-high 12 point effort against Anna Maria on Friday … Jollie averaged 8.0 points per game this past weekend … He netted 11 key points in the Pioneers' win over Oswego on Saturday.

Stortini Scoring: Senior guard Joe Stortini (Rhinebeck, NY/RIT) ranks second on the team with an average of 12.1 points per game this season … He has two 20+ scoring performances, including a 26 point effort against Morrisville on December 6th.

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 6.2 points per game … He leads the team with 15 3-pointers this season.

Making a Name for Himself: Sophomore Jake Kulakowski (Brewerton, NY/Central Square) has started seven 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 … He ranks fourth on the team with an average of 6.6 points per game.