UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's basketball team fell to the SUNY Poly Wildcats 73-58 at home on Monday night. 
 
The teams failed to find the board over the first three minutes of the opening half until Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) found Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) under the hoop for an easy layup. Morreale then put the Pioneers ahead 5-0 after nailing a three-point shot on UC's next trip down the court with 16 minutes to play in the half. 
 
Now 14-7 Utica with 11 minutes to play in the opening frame, Poly put together a 13-0 run over 3:30 minutes to take a 20-14 lead. With the score 24-23 in favor of Poly with four minutes left, the Wildcats ended the half on a 9-0 run to carry a 33-23 lead into the half. The Pioneers attempted 10 fewer shots from the field over the game's first 20 minutes however, the team still shot 37.5 percent (9-24 FG) to Poly's 38.2 percent (13-34 FG). 
 
Utica made it a single digit game again with 13:36 to play after Chris Green (White Plains, NY/Alexander Hamilton) nailed a three to bring the score to 45-37. Almost two minutes later the Pioneers crawled back within four however, that would be the closest the team would get to a lead again. Poly's offense remained in rhythm throughout the remainder of the game while key shots and offensive rebounds prevented UC from coming back. 
 
Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian), Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) and Morreale all finished with a share of the team lead in points with 13 each. Hopkins and Morreale also finished as the team leaders with seven rebounds apiece. Green also added 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting a 2-for-2 shooting from beyond the arc. The Pioneers defense also limited one of the nation's top scorers and Whitesboro native, Josh Gregory, to 12 points (3-10 FG) over 37 minutes as Hopkins spent most of the game defending Poly's top scoring option. 
 
UC (6-2, 0-0 Empire 8) opens league play at home on Friday against Elmira College. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.