Utica, NY - The Utica College men's basketball team tabbed its fifth-straight win in an 85-68 Senior Day victory over the Alfred Saxons Saturday afternoon at Miga Court. This win bumped the Pioneers up to a 17-4 overall record on the season and also clinched the team a playoff spot in the Empire 8 conference tournament.

Freshman forward Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), who was just named ECAC Rookie of the Month on Thursday, led the scoring charge all afternoon, netting 19 points on 4-of-5 shooting from downtown. Junior center Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) was also a big difference-maker in this contest, posting 12 points and 11 rebounds en route to his second-straight double-double. He now has five double-doubles this season.

UC created its first separation of the game when the team pieced together seven unanswered points from the 14:23 mark to the 12:35 mark to take a 19-12 lead. The Pioneers worked this lead up to as many as 13 points (32-19) with 7:46 left to play, but they went into the locker room with a narrow 43-40 advantage.

The second stanza completely flipped the script, as the Pioneers outscored the Saxons 42-28 on the way to their fifth-straight Empire 8 victory.

This game honored three seniors from this year's roster: Ryan Johannes (Southbury, CT/Catholic University), Hunter Remley (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) and Justin Strielkauskas (Waterbury, CT/Holy Cross).

"The class of 2020 is a special one in Utica College men's basketball history," head coach Sean Coffey said. "They are my inaugural recruiting class and have been a major part of the program's resurgence."

This class has won 58 games, including 37 Empire 8 victories, and has made two conference playoff appearances, which included advancing to the 2017-18 E8 Conference Final.

Remley led the class with eight points on two 3-pointers, while Johannes added two points in his first start of the season. Strielkauskas, who made only his second appearance since Nov. 22, rounded out the class with four points and three rebounds.

Freshman point guard Brett Talbert (Deer Park, NY/Knox School) added 14 points in the winning effort while totaling a career-high eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) finished right behind Talbert with 11 points of his own in addition to his team-high four assists.

This Empire 8 win leaves the Pioneers at third in the conference, behind only Nazareth and St. John Fisher who currently share the top spot with a 9-1 E8 record. Sage holds the fourth and final conference playoff spot with an even 5-5 Empire 8 record.

UC returns to action for a two-game weekend road trip against the two top-seeded teams in Nazareth on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and St. John Fisher on Saturday at 2 p.m.