UTICA, NY - The Utica University men's basketball team prepares to enter a crucial stretch of games this week that will impact the Empire 8 leader board. The Pioneers begin the critical four-game stretch with a pair of home games this week against Nazareth College at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Keuka College at 4 p.m. on Saturday. 
 
Follow Along: Those unable to attend either game this week can keep up with live video and/or stats through https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/. 
 
Last Time Out: The Pioneers stayed perfect in Empire 8 play as they defeated the Russell Sage Gators by a score of 95-66 in the Real Men Wear Pink Breast Cancer Awareness game on Saturday. The win put the Pioneers at 11-0 in conference play to keep the team two games ahead of Nazareth for first place. The Pioneers were a juggernaut all game as 16 players got their names in the box score, including four of them having double digits. Utica was led by their leading scorer on the season, senior Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill), who continued his breakout campaign putting up 19 points, five rebounds and four assists. Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) had 15 points and six rebounds, and guards Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) and Dayion Thompson (Beacon, NY/Kimball Union Academy) had 10 points apiece on a combined 61.5 percent shooting from the field. Utica found themselves down early as the Gators came out hot getting off to a 9-4 lead. After that the Pioneers flip switched. Freshman Dayion Thompson (Beacon, NY/Kimball Union Academy) made an instant impact off the bench, making two beautiful passes leading to Morreale layups for a 15-14 lead. A few minutes later, Morreale had a highlight of his own. After almost making his defender fall, he got to the rim and threw it down on a Sage defender for the three-point play opportunity. After completing the three-point play the score was 20-14 in favor of the Pioneers. The Pioneers continued their masterclass as they were getting it done in transition and in the paint. Utica outscored Sage 14-2 in fast break points to go along with a 26-10 point advantage in the paint to help go into the break up 45-24. The second half was all Utica as the team opened the fresh frame on an 11-0 run to extend its lead to 32 points. A plethora of players got an opportunity in the showcase, including freshman Ryan McCardle (Hurley, NY/Kingston) who scored a career-high eight points. The Pioneers led by as many as 45 in the second half in route to the victory.
 
Where we Stand: Utica enters the week 16-2 overall and in control of the Empire 8 with an 11-0 record; two games better than second place Nazareth. While its 11-0 mark is the best record the team has ever had through 11 Empire 8 games, its 16-2 record ties a program record for the highest winning percentage through 18 games played. While postseason seeding is still a few weeks out from being decided, Utica is nearing a chance to lock-up its ticket to the Empire 8 Conference Tournament. 
 
Round Three: Utica and Nazareth have played in a pair of instant classics over the last two meetings. The first being the 2022 Empire 8 Championship where Utica erased an 11 point deficit from 6:30 to 1:51 left in the game to take a one point lead. However, Nazareth responded with a layup with 1:21 on the clock to reclaim the lead. Following a missed three-pointer from Avery Coston (Kerhonkson, NY/Rondout Valley), Jonathan Park was immediately fouled and went to the line for a one-and-one with 14 seconds to go. Park would miss the front end, setting up Utica to take the final possession and a chance to win. However, Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) missed a heavily contested layup with three seconds to play which would crown Nazareth as E8 champs. Fast forward to three weeks ago and Utica would have its revenge. Once again, the Pioneers would have to scratch and claw back to get into this one as the team took a 15 point deficit with 7:54 to play and turned it into a tie game with 44 seconds to go. After Nazareth took a two point lead with 25 seconds to play and once again missed the front end of a one-and-one with six seconds to go, Dayion Thompson (Beacon, NY/Kimball Union Academy) staples his name into the rivalries history in his first appearance playing in it. The freshman Drove down the court and buried a layup as time expired to force overtime. In overtime, Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) took over with five of the team's 11 points to help give Utica an 85-81 win.  
 
It's Free: Utica's success from the free throw line has been one of the team's most important aspects to its success. The Pioneers top the Empire 8 with a 73.7 percentage from the charity stripe while five members of the team rank within the top 11 in the league. Dayion Thompson (Beacon, NY/Kimball Union Academy) ranks second in the E8, just .02 percent behind first, with an 89.8 free throw percentage while Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) (79.3 percent) is fifth, Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) (77 percent) is sixth, Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) (73.2 percent) is eighth and Avery Coston (Kerhonkson, NY/Rondout Valley) (69.5 percent) is 11th. Thompson's mark is good enough to be top 15 nationally while as a team, Utica is amongst the top 70 best free throw shooting teams in DIII. 
 
Backcourt Success: Guard play has been nothing shy of spectacular for the Pioneers through 18 games. Experienced players such as Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) and Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) have combined for 30 points per game while second year point guard Griffin Barasa (Clearwater, FL/Calvary Christian) has grown into the offense's facilitator with a team-best 40 assists. Then off the bench comes Empire 8 Rookie of the Year candidate Dayion Thomspon, who is netting 11.2 points per game on 44.7 percent shooting in just 20 minutes per game. 
 
About Nazareth: The Golden Flyers come onto Miga Court 15-3 overall this season while sitting second in the Empire 8 standings at 9-2. Nazareth will start the week ranked No. 23 in the country however, a loss to St. John Fisher last week could see the Golden Flyers slip out of the national rankings. The team sports the third-ranked scoring offense in the Empire 8 with 81 points per game while its top-ranked scoring defense of 64.2 points allowed per game has led to a plus-16.8 scoring margin. Aside from leading the league in opponent field goal percentage, three-point percentage, opponent three-point percentage, rebounding (both offensively and defensively), Nazareth has been the best team in the country at limiting turnovers as it ranks first in Division III committing just 8.9 per outing. The Golden Flyers feature a balanced scoring attack with four players averaging between 11 and 15 points per game while another pair average over nine a game. Jonathan Park has been a premier player in the league for some time now and this year has been no exception as he is the lone player in the E8 to average a double-double per game (14.2 points per game, 11.9 rebounds per game). The teams last met on January 10 in Rochester, NY in a game where the Pioneers battled away to upset then No. 19 Nazareth 85-81 in overtime. This will also be the first meeting between the teams on Miga Court since the 2022 Empire 8 Championship. 
 
Scouting Keuka: The Wolves enter the week 7-9 overall and sit in eighth place in the E8 standings at 3-8. Keuka will host St. John Fisher on Tuesday prior to traveling to Utica on Saturday. The Wolves rank within the middle of the pack in the conference on both ends of the floor with 72.6 points per game on offense while allowing 75.6 points per game to opponents. Whereas Keuka plays aggressively on defense ranking third in the E8 committing 8.25 steals per game, it is often left loss on the boards as the team is ninth in the league coming down with just 35.6 rebounds per game. The Wolves do feature a top-50 scorer nationally in Devin Milton, who's averaged 20.1 points per game 46.8 percent shooting from the field and 41.3 percent from three. Utica has taken the last six matchups between the teams including a 79-68 win at Keuka on January 7. 

Up Next: Following Saturday's game Utica will take to the road to play St. John Fisher University at 7 :30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 7.