UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's basketball team will look to shake its John K. Adams Tip-Off Classic championship loss when the team travels to Morrisville St. on Tuesday, November 16. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
 
How to Watch: Live stream and live stats will be provided for the weekend by following https://morrisvillemustangs.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary. 
 
Last Time Out: The Pioneers (1-1) are coming off their weekend at the John K. Adams tip-Off classic at Rutgers-Newark University. They started the tournament out picking up where they left off last season shooting 62% from the field while going 8-17 from behind the arc. Led by Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) with 31 points, the Pioneers beat Eureka College, 84-67. The Pioneers followed it up with a tough 66-48 loss to Rutgers-Newark on Saturday afternoon in the championship game. The team struggled to get it going offensively, as Morreale led the team with nine points. Despite the loss, UC was able to win the battle on the boards 34-31 including 14 on the offensive end which led to 11 second chance points.  
 
Stat Sheet Stuffer: Morreale has started his junior year in fashion. In the weekend tournament he was able to tie his career high in points with 31 over Eureka. Through two games this season, Morreale leads the team in scoring with 20 points per game on 66.7% shooting. With six rebounds per game, he has dominated the boards leading the team in that category. Additionally, Morreale has been a defensive presence having two steals and three blocks on the season. 
 
Answering the Call: Last season, Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) took the Empire 8 by storm after his 6.2 points per game on 59.5% shooting helped earn him E8 Rookie of the year. This season, Call has already stepped up big after averaging eight points off 54.5% shooting, 4.5 rebounds and one steal in the season opening tournament. The biggest jump is his time on the court getting an increase from 15.4 minutes per game last season to 24.5 minutes per game to start this season.
 
Green Light: Chris Green (White Plains, NY/Alexander Hamilton) returns for his senior campaign as one of the most formidable foes on both ends of the court as he's currently averaging nine points per game. His aggression on the offensive end has allowed him to be the top free-throw shooter on the team after going 5-6 from the charity stripe this past weekend. To add to his numbers, Green's 5'9" frame averages 3.5 rebounds and three assists per game. His relentlessness on defense has also guided him to average 1.5 steals per game thus far. 
 
Meeting History: UC and Morrisville will meet for the sixth time on Tuesday with the Pioneers leading the series 3-2. Utica also enters Tuesday on a three-game winning streak over the Mustangs. The last time these two teams faced off was in December 2019 which ended in an 89-75 Utica win. At the time, freshman Morreale had himself a game going 7-9 from the field en route to an 18 point game. This game also saw Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) net 15 points and five assists and Murphy dominate the boards with nine rebounds and two blocks. 
 
Scouting the Mustangs: The Mustangs (0-1) enter this matchup against the Pioneers off a tough 69-61 loss to SUNY Brockport. A night plagued by poor shooting on both sides had Morrisville shooting 28.8% from the field and 29.4% from behind the arc. Despite 16 turnovers, the Mustangs hung around due to their free throw shooting. In the end, the Mustangs went 22-27 from the line led by their leading scorer, Tron Smith, who went 11-11 with a total of 22 points.

Up Next: Following this game, the Pioneers will travel to Cazenovia on Monday, November 22 with the time still TBD.