UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's basketball team will play two road games this weekend for a double dose of Empire 8 action. The team will face Elmira on Friday at 7.30 p.m. and Nazareth on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
Last Time Out: The Pioneers are 11-9 (5-6, Empire 8) at this point in the season after recently defeating Sage, 74-57, at home. Sophomore Shawn Gashi (Central Square, NY/Bishop Grimes) led all scorers with 27 points in the game on 12-for-20 shooting. Avery Coston (Kerhonkson, NY/Rondout Valley) had 18 points to go with seven rebounds, while Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) was huge defensively inside with 14 rebounds and six blocks.
 
Gashi's Scoring Efforts:  Sophomore point guard Shawn Gashi (Central Square, NY/Bishop Grimes) is UC's leading scorer, as he continues his breakout season averaging 17.1 points per game. He is currently ranked fourth in the conference in scoring. The Pioneers are 6-3 this year when Gashi puts up 20 or more points in the game. He shoots the ball at a 51.7% clip in contests that he scores 20 plus. In the last five games the Pioneers are 3-2, with Gashi scoring over 20 points in all three wins.
 
Collective Effort on the Glass: Justin Strielkauskas (Waterbury, CT/Holy Cross) (5.4 rpg), Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) (5.3 rpg) and Avery Coston (Kerhonkson, NY/Rondout Valley) (5.1 rpg) all average over five rebounds per game. Each of these three has recorded at least one double-digit rebounding performance this season. Murphy is also second in the E8 in blocks, averaging 1.1 blocks a game.
 
Outside Looking In: As the standings read prior to a weekend full of games, the Pioneers are just outside of the top four in the conference in fifth place. With a 5-6 mark in the E8, Utica trails Stevens (7-6, Empire 8) by two games for the final slot in the conference tournament. With only five games left on the schedule the team still has a window of opportunity to earn another run into the Empire 8 Conference Tournament.
 
Scouting Elmira: The Soaring Eagles are 6-14 (4-7, Empire 8) so far this season. They are coming off a 106-99 loss against Hartwick last Tuesday. Elmira has now lost back-to-back games heading into Friday's matchup. The team is currently led by Justin Porrett, who averages 16.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, and a conference-leading 7.4 assists per game. Porrett is fifth in the Empire 8 in scoring and also leads the league with an average of two steals a game.
 
Scouting Nazareth: The Golden Flyers are 16-4 (10-1, Empire 8) heading into a busy weekend. They are coming off a recent 78-57 loss to Stevens last weekend. Jake Burgio currently leads Naz with 16.1 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game, and is among the conference leaders in both statistical categories. The last time UC played against Nazareth was on January 26^th. The Pioneers lost, 66-81, to the Golden Flyers despite Avery Coston's (Kerhonkson, NY/Rondout Valley) 21 point, eight rebound performance.
 
Looking Ahead: The Pioneers will return home on Wednesday, February 13^th to host Elmira in an E8 conference rematch. Game time is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.