Rochester, NY – The Utica College men's basketball team lost to Nazareth in a road game on Saturday, with the final score reading 78-57. The loss puts the Pioneers' record down to 12-10 overall and 6-7 in Empire 8 play.
 
Justin Strielkauskas (Waterbury, CT/Holy Cross) and De'andrae McFarlane (Elizabeth, NJ/Union) each scored eight points in the game, leading UC in scoring on the day. Utica's starting lineup of Avery Coston (Kerhonkson, NY/Rondout Valley), Justin Mayers (Hastings, NY/Hastings on the Hudson), Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian), Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson), and Shawn Gashi (Central Square, NY/Bishop Grimes) combined for a total of 28 points in the loss. Although there were no double-digit scorers for UC in the game, 12 different players got their name in the scoring column.
 
Nazareth took control of the match in the first half, behind Brendan Wind who led all scorers with 11 at halftime. The Golden Flyers shot 50% in the opening half compared to the 33.3% shooting from Utica. The Pioneers trailed by just four points with five minutes remaining until halftime, but Naz closed the period strong to jump out to a 17-point lead entering the break.
 
The hosting Golden Flyers would coast through the finish line, increasing their lead to as much as 25 in the second half. UC shot a much healthier percentage in the second half of the contest, 54.2%, but it was not enough to overcome the halftime deficit. Nazareth would go on to secure the 21-point victory at home.
 
Strielkauskas and McFarlane combined for 16 points off the bench, to lead a 29-point contribution from players on the bench. Murphy snagged a team-high seven boards to go with his six points. Starters Coston and Mayers both finished with seven points in the loss.
 
Nazareth's Brendan Wind led all scorers with 21 points, as the team improves to 17-5 overall and 11-2 in conference play. Tyler Stenglein added 17 points, while Chris Jones and Jake Burgio combined for 20. As a team, the Golden Flyers committed just six turnovers in the contest.
 
The Pioneers still have a slim chance of earning the fourth spot in the conference tournament and will have to win all three of their remaining games on the schedule to clinch.
 
UC returns home on Wednesday to host Elmira for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.