Utica, NY - After a tough loss to St. John Fisher on Thursday the Utica College men's basketball team bounced back with a 81-63 win over Houghton College on Saturday. 

Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) led all Pioneers with 20 points which came on 7/10 shooting from the field and 3/4 from three. The Sophomore finished two rebounds shy of a double-double as he compiled eight making him the team's leading rebounder in the game as well. 

Avery Coston (Kerhonkson, NY/Rondout Valley) chalked up 15 points for UC on 50 percent shooting while Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) added 12 points, nine of which came from beyond the arc. The teammates also finished with five rebounds a piece. Hunter Remley (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) was a defensive menace throughout his 18 minutes on the floor as he recorded four rebounds and forced three Houghton turnovers. 

Houghton hung around in the first half as the Pioneers took a seven point lead into halftime. In the second half however, UC pulled away outscoring the Highlanders 39-28 over the final 20 minutes of the game. The offense was balanced throughout the game as the team shot 49 percent from the field and 48 percent from three while recording 38 points from inside the paint. The Pioneers received help from the bench as they contributed 25 of the 81 points scored, led by Chris Green's (White Plains, NY/Alexander Hamilton) eight points. 

Defensively, UC held Houghton 37 percent shooting from the field and 20.7 percent shooting from three (6-29). The starters handled the majority of the scoring load for the Highlanders as they were responsible for 54 of the total 63 points. 

UC (4-1, 3-1 E8) will play its first of back-to-back road games when they travel to Nazareth College (6-2, 6-1 E8) on Monday. Game time is set for 7 p.m. and can be viewed at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/nazareth/.