UTICA, NY - The Utica University men's basketball team will look to remain perfect to start the season when the team travels to Hamilton College to take on the Continentals at 7 p.m. on December 8. 
 
Follow Along: Hamilton will provide live video through https://www.nsnsports.net/colleges/hamilton/ as well as live stats at https://athletics.hamilton.edu/sidearmstats/mbball/ for those unable to attend live. 
 
Last Time Out: The team beat the Hartwick College Hawks 94-60 on Saturday night. The win was the second straight Empire 8 victory for the team and kept its season undefeated at 5-0. Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) both hit three-pointers to give the Pioneers a quick 6-0 lead just over one minute into the game. Morreale and Brantley each recorded another bucket as Utica was quickly up 13-1. Morreale continued to be a presence down low as he had 12 points in the first seven minutes of the contest to guide Utica to a 22-6 edge. The Pioneers continued to score at will and took a 54-26 advantage into the break. Utica shot an impressive 64.7 percent from the field in the first half including 10-15 from beyond the arc. The Pioneer defense held Hartwick to 32.1 percent from the field and just 26 points in the first half. Morreale led the team with 17 points at the half followed by Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) with 12. Griffin Barasa (Clearwater, FL/Calvary Christian) had a terrific first half setting up his teammates as he compiled six assists. Utica continued to have its way on offense as the team continued to produce points. A trio of three-pointers from Hopkins and Dayion Thompson (Beacon, NY/Kimball Union Academy) had the Pioneers out to a 69-38 edge just six minutes into the second half. The entire team was contributing, and the team was firing on all cylinders. The Pioneers cruised to a 94-60 victory, and it was the team's second straight Empire 8 win. Morreale led the team in scoring with 21 points including shooting 60 percent from the field. Morreale also collected a season-high ten boards and recorded his first double-double of the season. Hopkins scored 18 points and Brantley poured in 16 of his own. Brantley has been a key offensive player for the Pioneers this season as he has scored double digit points in all five games this season. Utica's bench contributed plenty as Thompson, Luke Bourgault (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute), and Liam Teague (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland) all filled the stat sheet. Utica finished the contest shooting 55.2 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Pioneers cleaned up on the glass, out rebounding Hartwick 43-29 and poured in 42 points in the paint. 
 
Starting Strong: The Pioneers are off to a start that the program has not seen in quite some time. The team is off to its first 5-0 start since the 1995-96 season in which the team went 11-0 to start that season. Utica is also one of 21 unbeaten teams remaining in Division III. Much of the team's success comes from the offensive end of the floor as its 90 points per game ranks ninth in the nation while the team has also been a top-30 field goal and three-point shooting team in the country. The balance of veterans and newcomers such as Dayion Thompson (Beacon, NY/Kimball Union Academy) and Luke Bourgault (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute) have provided a nice balance to the scoring attack. Not to be overshadowed, the defense has played up to par with the offense as well. Utica's 65.4 points allowed per game is the second best in the league (2.4 behind Nazareth) while the team has held opponents to 38.3 percent shooting from the field (27th in DIII) and 27.3 percent from three (37th in DIII). That along with a 5.0 turnover margin has helped the team win each of its five games by an average of 24 points - the second highest scoring margin in the country. 
 
Brantley Buckets: Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) was Empire 8 Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of November 28-December 4, as announced by the league on Monday. The honor was Brantley's second of the season over a three week span. In a 3-0 week for the Utica University men's basketball team, Brantley paved the way netting 18 points per game on 62.5 percent shooting from the floor (20-for-32) while also adding five rebounds and two assists per game. Brantley's biggest game came in the team's Empire 8 opener at Sage on Friday as he led the unit with 22 points and eight rebounds while shooting 9-for-13 from the field, 1-for-1 from three and 3-for-6 from the free throw line. For the season, the senior is top-five in the Empire 8 averaging 17.2 points per game, shooting 57.9 percent from the floor and recording 7.4 rebounds per game. 
 
D-Hop Loading: Since recording a season low four points against SUNY Poly on November 21, Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) has begun to find his stride in the three games since. Over the team's last three outings, Hopkins is netting 15 points per game on 57.1 percent shooting from the field. The 2021-22 Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year has also recorded a steal per game during this stretch. For the season, Hopkins is 10th in the E8 netting 14.8 points per game as well as shooting 53.5 percent from the floor while his 60.0 three-point percentage is second amongst league qualifiers. 
 
Here Comes Tommy: Consistency has always been a specialty of Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro). The junior broke out for his first double-double of the season with a 21 point, 10 rebound outing at Hartwick College last Saturday. The senior forward finds himself within the top-15 in the conference this year averaging 14 points and 5.6 rebounds per game as well as with 52.8 field goal percentage. He's also on pace to set a career high in blocks this season after totaling 28 in 24 games played last season. Morreale currently has six blocks to his credit with his average of 1.2 per outing ranking fourth in the E8. 
 
About Hamilton: The Continentals have started the season 6-2 overall while having won each of its past three games, including its most recent at home against No. 6 Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Through eight games, Hamilton has outscored opponents 80.4 to 70.8 with much credit to the team's 44.9 percent shooting from the floor. Hamilton has displayed its size all season as well (only one player under 6-foot-3, none shorter than 6-foot-1), as the team has controlled the boards averaging nearly 42 rebounds per game, ranking just outside of the top-50 in Division III, while also blocking four shots per contest. Four players are averaging over 10 points per game for the Continentals, none more than guard Hank Morgan's 18.1 on 54 percent shooting (54-for-100). While Hamilton controls the all-time series lead between the teams, Uticas has had the upper hand in the previous two meetings with a 104-97 win at Hamilton in January 2020 and a 69-65 win at home in December 2021. 

Up Next: Utica will return home on Saturday, December 17 to host SUNY Cortland at 1 p.m.