Rochester, NY - The Utica College men's basketball team had its five-game winning streak snapped by the Empire 8's top-ranked Nazareth Golden Flyers Friday night. This 79-63 victory marked Nazareth's 10th-straight win, all of which have come in E8 play.

Sophomore guard Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) and junior center Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) had outstanding performances, as they both finished with 17 points on the night. Murphy's outing was possibly the best of his career, as he totaled a career-high 17 rebounds and fell just one point short of tying his single-game high of 18 points from last season. This marks Murphy's third-straight double-double and his fifth of the season.

Utica had the upper hand in the first half of play, as the team jumped out to an 11-4 lead at the 15:15 mark. Nazareth weathered the storm, however, and traded baskets with UC for the duration of the first half of play. UC held a slim 36-34 advantage heading into the locker room.

Nazareth ran away with this one in the second half, outscoring Utica 45-27 en route to advancing to a mere perfect 11-1 Empire 8 Conference record.

Freshman forward Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) was the only other Pioneer to finish scoring in double digits, netting 11 points in addition to his six boards.

The Pioneers remain at third in the Empire 8 with this loss, dropping to 8-3 in conference play with two more games left to play in the season.

UC has a quick turnaround, as it is set for a 2 p.m. road matchup against St. John Fisher Saturday afternoon.