HAMBURG, NY- The Utica College men's basketball team earned a 78-75 win over host Hilbert College to take home the Hilbert Tip-Off Tournament Championship Saturday evening.
 
The Pioneers improve to 2-0 overall after the first week of play.  Utica will look to carry its momentum into its home opener on Tuesday as the Pioneers host cross town rival, SUNY Poly.  Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
After trailing 39-38 at halftime, Utica outscored the Hawks 40-36 in the second stanza to earn the victory.  Trailing by one point, a jumper by Shawn Gashi (Central Square, NY/Bishop Grimes) with 40 seconds left gave the Pioneers the lead and a pair of free throws by Tyler Jollie (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro) with 16 ticks left on the clock sealed the win.
 
Freshman Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) led the way for Utica with 28 points off the bench, while Gashi had 16 points for the Pioneers.  Avery Costin and Justin Strielkauskas (Waterbury, CT/Holy Cross) led UC with seven rebounds each and the pair also combined for 15 points on the day.
 
The Utica bench outscored Hilbert 40-16 on the day, thanks in part to Hopkins' 28 points and eight points by Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle).  Gashi and Hopkins were each named to the All-Tournament team for their performances on the weekend.