ROCHESTER, NY - Nearly nine months removed from winning the Empire 8 championship against St. John Fisher in Rochester, NY, the Utica College men's basketball team returned to the same court to defeat the Cardinals on Friday night, 63-56.
 
The teams matched one another throughout the first half as neither led by more than four points through the first 8:30 of the game. With a little over 1:30 remaining in the first frame and Utica in the lead, Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) capitalized on a pair of free throws to extend the advantage to 24-21. With under a minute left, freshman Griffin Barasa (Clearwater, FL/Calvary Christian) nailed a three-point shot and junior Jusitce Brantly converted on a layup to help the Pioneer carry a 29-22 lead into halftime. 
 
While the game remained close through the second half, Utica never surrendered its halftime lead. A pair of Kobe Lukin three's and a Chris Green (White Plains, NY/Alexander Hamilton) bucket over the first three minutes of the second kept the Pioneer ahead 37-30. With 6:30 left in the game, Fisher came within two points with the score 46-44 however, Lufkin converted on an and-one jump shot to give Utica a 49-44 lead and one that Fisher would not recover from. 
 
The combination of Barasa, Justice Brantly, Avery Coston (Kerhonkson, NY/Rondout Valley), Green and Lufkin scored the final 14 points of the game for UC and helped limit the Cardinals to 12 points in the same span to hold on to the victory.
 
Lufkin led the team with 15 points (6-7 FG, 2-3 3FG) followed by Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) with 10 and Barasa with nine. Coston put seven points on the board for the Pioneers, all from the free throw line, while Brantly and Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), who exited the game early, totaled six points. Brantly also finished with a team high eight boards followed by Murphy with seven, 
 
UC (9-2, 3-0) will take the court again on Saturday against Nazareth College. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.