UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's basketball team rolled to a 3-0 start to its season with a 89-57 win over Alfred University on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Pioneers, who averaged 87 points per game as a team heading into Saturday's matchup, stuck to their fast paced style of offense as 12 different players recorded points in the game. UC was led by Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) who put up 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Avery Coston (Kerhonkson, NY/Rondout Valley) was a force all game as he added 14 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists.
 
Freshman Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) carried his success from the Pioneers' first two games into Saturday as he brought down 12 rebounds to add to his nine points and five assists. Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) and Chris Green (White Plains, NY/Alexander Hamilton) scored 11 points each while both playing key roles in facilitating the offense. Senior Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) finished with 10 points and three boards on the day. 
 
The Saxons were led by Casey Curran, who recorded 17 points, and Mike Schmidt who finished with 13 points as well as three assists and rebounds.
 
Utica took a 44-29 lead into the half thanks to a well-balanced attack on both ends of the floor. What seemed like a smooth ride turned into a close game when Alfred closed the gap to just eight points with 13 minutes left in the game. However, the Pioneers found their rhythm from the first half and finished the game on a 36-12 run. Alfred only held a lead for 1:20 through the game.
 
Alfred was held to 41.8 percent shooting from the field and 23.1 percent from three while the Pioneers couldn't be stopped, shooting 53.2 percent from the field and 46.4 percent from three.
 
UC (3-0, 3-0 E8) will play at home again on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. as St. John Fisher comes to town for the first meeting between the two teams this season.