Utica, NY - With fans in attendance for the first time all season the Utica College men's basketball team gave them something to go home happy about; a trip to the Empire 8 championship game. The Pioneers defeated the Nazareth Golden Flyers on Friday night 69-59 in what was UC's first ever home playoff game.
The two teams battled throughout the first half in a back-and-forth first 20 minutes. Second Team All-Conference selection
Chris Green (White Plains, NY/Alexander Hamilton) led the Pioneers with eight points heading into halftime while Nazareth carried a 32-30 lead into the locker room. Green would finish the game with 12 points and five rebounds. Both teams shot about the same from the field in the first half as Nazareth was 14-31 while UC converted on 12 of 31 shots.
Utica started to catch some fire in the second half as the team outscored the Golden Flyers 18-5 over the first nine minutes. In that run the Pioneers retook the lead with 17:25 to go after
Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), an All-Conference First Team selection, converted on an and one to make it a 35-34 game. UC never trailed from that point forward.
The team shot 52.17 percent from the field while also converting on 62.5 percent of its threes in the second half. Two of those three-point shots came in timely fashion by
Avery Coston (Kerhonkson, NY/Rondout Valley) who sank two as the shot clock expired. Coston wound up with 13 points off the bench.
Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) was unguardable in the second half as the All-Conference Third Team member finished with 10 points in the second half as well as leading the team with 16 overall for the game.
Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) was an immovable force inside the paint all game as "Hamma" finished with nine points and 11 rebounds while dishing out a pair of assists.
Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) also contributed 12 points on 4-7 shooting from the field.
This will be the second title game appearance for Utica in the last four seasons as the program still seeks its first ever Empire 8 crown.
With St. John Fisher defeating Sage, the Pioneers will head out to Rochester on Sunday for the title game. The time of the game is still TBD.
