Utica, NY - The Utica College men's basketball team will look to keep its offense firing as they play host to St. John Fisher College in an Empire 8 game on Thursday, March 18 at 5:30 p.m. 

 

Follow Along: Live video and stats of Thursday's game will be made available at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/. UC students Abin Boris and Corey Lichtman will have the call for the game, which can also be heard locally on WPNR 90.7 FM and on PioneerRadio.org. 

 

Familiar Foes: Wednesday's matchup between UC (3-0, 3-0 E8) and St. John Fisher College (4-1, 4-0 E8) will feature a rematch of the 2019-20 Empire 8 conference tournament semifinals. The Cardinals defeated the Pioneers 81-68 in that meeting en route to winning the E8 championship. Although the season is still working its way towards full stride, this game just might carry some salience for the postseason as Utica and Fisher are the only two teams in the conference without an E8 loss. 

 

Freshman Sensation: Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) was named Empire 8 Rookie of the Week on March 15 thanks to his strong showing in UC's first three games. Call has been a force on both ends of the floor as the Rome Free Academy graduate leads the Pioneers with 7.7 rebounds per game, a figure that ranks sixth in the E8. He is also shooting a more-than-efficient 73 percent from the field. While those numbers are impressive in their own right, Call has kept calm on the court as a freshman and has displayed that with his 10/1 assist/turnover ratio. Beyond the box score, the 6'4'' swingman has shown his athleticism with a trio of dunks in the teams first game at Elmira College. As shown so far, Call will be there to answer when needed.   

 

Offense Wins Games…: If you enjoy high scoring games, hold onto your hats during this matchup as points may not be hard to come by. As a unit the Pioneers lead the E8 in scoring offense at 87.7 points per game on 52.4 percent shooting which also tops the conference. UC has also been the best three-point shooting team in the E8 as they own a 39.2 percentage from beyond the arc while averaging 9.7 threes made per game, also the most in the conference. On the other hand, the Cardinals are lurking behind UC as they have averaged 83.6 points per game, second most in the E8, through five games this season. The team is also second behind Utica in field goal percentage (49.7 percent) and three point percentage (37 percent). 

 

...But Defense Wins Championships: While both teams have surging offenses, they both can slow their opponents down at any given time. The top two teams in the Empire 8 standings are also the top two in points allowed per game. The Pioneers have held opponents to 57.3 points per game while the Cardinals have surrendered 66.8 points per game over the course of five games. Extra possessions might be crucial in this game as well. Fisher has forced a conference best 11.4 steals per game while UC isn't far behind averaging 8.67 steals per game, good enough for third in the E8. 

 

Far From a One Man Show: The Pioneers, the conference leader in points per game, has shown the depth of its roster through its first three games. Eight players are averaging at least five points per game while four of them, Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Avery Coston (Kerhonkson, NY/Rondout Valley), Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) and Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) are averaging double figures. Morreale's 16.7 points per game ranks him fifth in the E8 while his 66.7 percent shooting from the field nets him third in the conference. Some of UC's success may be credited to fresh legs too as there are nine players averaging 15 or more minutes per game. There may not be any video game caliber individual numbers on this roster, but from top to bottom, anyone on this team can take over the game at any given time. 

 

Fisher Scouting Report: The Cardinals scoring attack primarily comes from two players; Brenden Trapper and Daniel Cook. Trapper is the E8 scoring leader, averaging 27.2 points per game on 61.4 percent shooting. Impressively, Trapper only attempts about four three pointers per game, meaning most of his points are from inside the arc and/or in the paint. He is coming off a 34 point outing in Fisher's win against Nazareth on Tuesday. His running mate Cook is also one to keep an eye on as his 17.8 points per game ranks him third in the conference. He is nearly averaging a double-double per game with his 17.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game which is the second most in the E8. Ryan Gentile is the only other member of the Cardinals averaging double figures in points per game. 

A Look Ahead: The Pioneers will have one more game at Miga Court to complete a three game home stretch. UC will take on Houghton College on Saturday, March 20th at 1 p.m. before hitting the road for a pair of games at Nazareth College on the 22nd and Russell Sage College on the 25th.