UTICA, NY - Fresh off of its first Empire 8 championship in program history, the Utica College men's basketball team will open its 2021-22 season on November 12 in the John K. Adams Tip-Off Classic hosted by Rutgers-Newark University. The Pioneers will open against the Eureka College Red Devils at 5 p.m. on Friday and the winner will advance to the championship game to face either York College (NY) or Rutgers-Newark at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The team that loses in the semifinal will play either York (NY) or Rutgers-Newark in a consolation game which will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday. 
 
Follow Along: Live video will be provided for both games through https://bit.ly/3n4iXU9 while fans can also follow along with live stats for both games through https://bit.ly/3bY6DOH. 
 
Last Season: UC claimed its first-ever Empire 8 championship in the spring after defeating St. John Fisher in the title game, 89-65. The team finished the shortened season 10-2 overall while closing the season out on a six-game winning streak that included a 69-59 semifinal win over Nazareth College as well as the championship game win over Fisher. The Pioneers finished second in the Empire 8 a season ago averaging 77.1 points per game while topping the E8 allowing just 61.3 points per game which helped result in a conference best 15.8 scoring margin. UC was also the best in the conference with a 48 percent field goal percentage, 37.8 percent opponent field goal percentage, 39 percent three-point percentage while finishing top-three in free throw percentage, rebound margin and blocked shots. 
 
The Schedule: The Pioneers are set to play 25 games this season, nine of which will be against non-conference opponents while the remaining 16 will be against Empire 8 teams. In its non-conference slate, UC will take on; Eureka College, York College (NY)/Rutgers-Newark University, Morrisville St., Cazenovia, Skidmore, Hamilton, Alfred St., Penn St. Behrend and SUNY Poly. The non-conference slate will run from November 12-January 3, 2022 and will include the Utica College Holiday Classic on December 29 and December 30. Utica will play its first home game of the year on Saturday, December 4 against Hamilton College. Conference play will run from January 7-February 19 while, if qualified, UC will play in the conference tournament which will be held from February 22-26. 
 
Guess Who's Back, Back Again: Utica will return each of its top-seven scorers from last season while nine members in all will look to build off of last season's title run. Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) (12.7 PPG, 47.7 FG%, 42.9 3PT%), Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) (11.5 PPG, 42.9 FG%) and Chris Green (White Plains, NY/Alexander Hamilton) (10.8 PPG, 51.6 FG%, 48.4 3PT %) will primarily handle the ball while Avery Coston (Kerhonkson, NY/Rondout Valley) (9.5 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 39.1 FG%) is also no stranger to playing the point. The Pioneers also bring back the previous two Empire 8 Rookie of the Year winners in Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) (11.9 PPG, 55.9 FG%, 43.8 3PT%) and Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) (6.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 59.5 FG%). Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson), who was named E8 tournament MVP in the spring, returns down low for UC after posting 6.9 points per game on 57 percent shooting from the floor, 6.7 rebounds per game and 1.2 blocks per game. Shooters Matt Champlin (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane) and DJ Harter (Holland Patent, NY/Holland Patent) will look to provide a spark off the bench yet again this season after combining to shoot 80 percent from deep in a small sample size last season. 
 
Jump On: Utica welcomes in eight new members to the unit this season, all of which looking to become reinforcements for head coach Sean Coffey. Griffin Barasa (Clearwater, FL/Calvary Christian), Marcus Gentile (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem ), Jonathan Livingston (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway), Neruda Perdomo (Exeter, NH/Kimball Union Academy ), Shelvon Grant (Brooklyn, NY/Poughkeepsie ), Dimitry Moise (Stamford, CT/Trinity Catholic), Jahiem Smith (Gainesville, FL/Eastside ) and Charlie Carlone (Buffalo, NY/St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute ) will each suit up for their first games as a Pioneer. Coffey, who enters his sixth season at the helm, will have a new running mate on the sideline this season as Tim Borza enters his first season as the team's assistant coach. No stranger to the area, Borza played at Whitesboro High School where he was a four-year varsity starter. By career end, he set school records in most points, assists, steals, 3-pointers made and free-throws made. He was also selected as an "All-State" player following the conclusion of his senior year and made an appearance at the Empire State Games.
 
Packing the Paint: Utica's roster will boast seven players standing in at 6'4'' or taller, led by last season's Empire 8 Tournament MVP, Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson). The 6'8'' center finished sixth in the conference last season averaging 6.7 boards per game while also ending the year with 1.2 blocks per game, the fourth most in the E8. Coston, Morreale, Green and Call each came down with over four rebounds per game while Hopkins finished just shy of four per game with 3.9. UC will also now have 6'7" freshman Charlie Carlone (Buffalo, NY/St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute ) patrolling the paint along with 6 '4'' newcomers Jahiem Smith (Gainesville, FL/Eastside ) and Dimitry Moise (Stamford, CT/Trinity Catholic). 
 
Shooting Range: No team in the Empire 8 shot the ball better than the Pioneers last season. The team led the conference with a 48 percent field goal percentage (329/685) as well as with a 39 percent three-point percentage (99/254). Call, Murphy, Morreale and Green each finished the year shooting over 50 percent from the floor while Lufkin and Hopkins each shot over 42 percent. Frown downtown, Green, Morreale and Lufkin each cashed in at least 43 percent of the time while Lufkin's mark of 42.9 percent led the conference for those who qualified and had more than one game played on the season. Each of the top-eight field goal percentage leaders from last year return to the court this season looking to repeat the success and consistency found last season. 
 
About Eureka: The Red Devils finished the 2019-20 season 16-9 overall and 11-7 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, good enough for a fifth place finish that season. Eureka enters the Rutgers-Newark Tournament 0-1 after dropping its season opener to Cornell College, 82-68. Junior Charlie McKinty led the team with 29 points on 8-for-13 shooting from three. Ian Milsteadt was the only member of the team to record double figures in points as he came away with 14 in the losing effort. 
 
A Look at York (NY)/Rutgers Newark: The York College Cardinals ended the 2019-20 season 8-17 overall while compiling a 4-10 record in the City University of New York Athletic Conference. The team returns its top two scores from 2019-20 in Donald Hartley Jr. (15 PPG) and Devine Chisholm (14.3 PPG). The Cardinals entered the tournament with a 1-0 record after defeating St. Joseph's College on Wednesday night, 94-84. Quran Dublin led the team with 32 points on 10-17 shooting as well as 4-9 shooting from three while playing all 40 minutes. The Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders ended the 2019-20 season 18-13 overall and 10-8 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, making them the fourth-seed in the NJAC tournament that season. The team went on to fall in the semifinals to The College of New Jersey, 65-48. Rutgers-Newark will have its second leading scorer back from that season, Quincy Rutherford, after he averaged 13.3 points per game on 44 percent shooting from the field and from three. UC fell to the Scarlet Raiders 57-51 in the last meeting between the teams on November 16, 2019. 
 
Looking Ahead: UC will travel to Morrisville St. to take on the Mustangs at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 16.