Utica, NY – Basketball season is almost here which means the Utica College men and women basketball teams are ready to put on a show at the Moose Madness Rally, Thursday night at 7:30 pm in the Clark Athletic Center gymnasium. The Pioneers will display their skills in a series of events throughout the evening, including opportunities for the fans to participate, as the teams are excited to start the 2018-2019 season.
 
Moose Madness: The UC fans will get their first sneak peak of the 2018-19 men and women's basketball squads before the season officially begins in two weeks. Members from each team will be introduced, leading into a brief warm-up session for the players to get loose for the competitions.
 
Partner Shooting Competition: After warm-ups the teams will split into their pairings for the first event of the night, the Partner 3-Point Shooting Contest. In teams of two (one boy, one girl), the competing players will attempt to make as many 3-point shots with their partner as possible in the allotted time. The top two teams will go head-to-head in one final round to determine the winner.
 
Meet the Shooters: With six players from each team competing in the partner shooting event, here is a look at the shooters participating. The women's team will be represented by Nicolette Conkin (Los Altos, CA/Homestead), Petrina DeMarco (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Jeslyn Files (Weedsport, NY/Weedsport), Kimberly Soriano (Queens, NY/Monsignor McClancey Memorial), Marissa Woods (Westampton, NJ/Rancocas Valley), and Brigid Johndrow (Bristol, CT/St. Paul Catholic). Cora Sawyer (New London, CT/New London) was nominated as an alternate in case one of her other teammates cannot compete. On the men's side the six shooters include Tyler Jollie (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro), Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle), Hunter Remley (Cranford, NJ/Cranford), Justin Mayers (Hastings, NY/Hastings on the Hudson), Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian), and Shawn Gashi (Central Square, NY/Bishop Grimes).
 
Student Relay: After the shooting competition is over it will be time to get the fans involved in the events. Up first will be the Student Relay Contest, where two randomly selected students from the crowd (one boy, one girl) will race to see who can get dressed up like a UC basketball player and make a series of shots first (Lay-up, Foul Shot, 3-Pointer). The first to complete the race will win a Utica College Athletics t-shirt.
 
Half-court Shot: Up next is another chance for the fans in the stands to show off what they got, as two random individuals (one boy, one girl) will join in on the fun. Each participant will be given the ball at half-court to shoot for some UC gear. If a contestant makes the shot from half-court they will win a UC Athletics Nike jacket.
 
The Dunk Contest: The Moose Madness event will finish up with a classic dunk contest, featuring Cortlynn Jepsen (Hudson, NY/Hudson), Nicole Herringshaw (Syracuse, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse), Alayna Cormier (Williamsburg, VA/Warhill), and Briannah Florian (Fort Plain, NY/Fort Plain) as the official judges. Each dunker will be given 45 seconds to show the panel of judges the best dunk possible. The judges will then score each participant as they see fit, with the top two scores after round one going head-to-head in a final dunk-off.
 
Meet the Dunkers: There are five dunkers in this year's field of competitors for the Moose Madness Dunk Contest. The collection of participants for the event include De'andrae McFarlane (Elizabeth, NJ/Union), Justin Worth (Catskill, NY/Catskill), Justin Strielkauskas (Waterbury, CT/Holy Cross), Jake Kulakowski (Brewerton, NY/Central Square), and John Malone II (Chicago, IL/Quincy University). It will be exciting to see what these players are going to do come show time.
 
Season Openers: Join UC basketball on Thursday night at 7:30 pm to celebrate the upcoming season at Moose Madness. The women's team is scheduled to open up play at SUNY Potsdam on November 13^th, while the men start their season on November 16^th at the Hilbert Tip-off Tournament against RPI.