Albany, NY - The Utica College men's basketball team finished its regular season with a 72-67 loss on the road against Sage. Freshman forward Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) made the most of his first-career start in this contest, as he netted a team-high 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field. This tops Brantley's career-high of 12 points against Elmira on Jan. 10 earlier this season.

UC finishes the year with an overall record of 18-7 with this loss, marking the most wins in a single season since the 2006-07 season. The 2006-07 team also posted 18 wins in its regular season as well.

Utica entered the second half of this contest trailing 39-31, but the team made a roaring comeback that fell just short of a victory at the end of regulation. Sage came out of the locker room on a high note, working a 15-point lead (50-35) with 14:19 left to play in the game.

The Pioneers responded with eight unanswered points to draw within seven (50-43) with 11:08 left on the clock. This run was ignited by back-to-back Chris Green (White Plains, NY/Alexander Hamilton) buckets and was completed with baskets from senior forward Hunter Remley (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) and junior guard Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle). This gave UC the push it needed, as the team continued chipping away at Sage's lead. The Pioneers tied the game at 59 and 61, but they were never able to take back the lead.

Lufkin tabbed his third-straight double-digit scoring game, as he finished with 14 points. Green was the only other Pioneer to peak the double-digit scoring mark with 10 points of his own coming off the bench.

Junior center Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) matched his statline from last Saturday's game against St. John Fisher with eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.

The Pioneers complete their Empire 8 schedule with a conference record of 9-5, which is good for the No. 3 seed in the E8 tournament. 

UC returns to action on Friday for the opening round of the Empire 8 tournament against the second-seeded St. John Fisher Cardinals at 7:30 p.m. The Empire 8 tournament will be hosted by the top-seeded Nazareth.