Utica, NY - The Utica College men's basketball team dropped to 12-4 on the year with a 79-71 loss to the Nazareth Golden Flyers Saturday afternoon. Junior forward Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) had one of his best performances as a Pioneer, posting a career-high 17 rebounds and a season-high 14 points en route to his third double-double of the season.

Nazareth worked an early lead in this contest, heading into the locker room with a 42-32 advantage at halftime. The Golden Flyers eventually worked this lead all the way up to an 18-point advantage with 14:54 left to play. Utica came roaring back, drawing within seven with just under two minutes left to play. However, this comeback proved to be too little too late for the Pioneers, as Nazareth was able to weather the storm and secure the victory.

Sophomore Chris Green (White Plains, NY/Alexander Hamilton) had a career night as well, scoring a career-high 13 points coming off the bench.

Sophomore guard Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) led the team in scoring for the second consecutive game, poring in a team-high 15 points. Junior guard Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) matched Murphy with 14 points of his own on 4-of-8 shooting from the field.

UC drops to 3-2 in Empire 8 play with this loss, and the team will head back on the road for a matchup against Houghton on Friday. Tipoff for this E8 contest is set for 5:30 p.m.