UTICA, NY - The Utica University men's basketball team is set for a busy week with three games. The team will travel to face Morrisville State College on Tuesday, November 14 at 7 p.m. before facing Buffalo State College on Friday, November 17 at 7 p.m. The team will then return home to host SUNY Poly on Monday, November 20 at 7 p.m.
 
Follow Along: Morrisville will provide live video here and live stats here. Buffalo State will provide live video for Friday's game here and live stats here. Utica will provide live video and stats for Monday's game via https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/. 
 
Last Time Out: The Utica University men's basketball team topped SUNY Potsdam 86-70 on Friday night in the team's season opener. Dayion Thompson (Beacon, NY/Kimball Union Academy) was phenomenal, dropping 25 points going 6-for-7 from the field including a terrific 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Thompson also added three rebounds, four assists and two steals and was doing it all for the team. Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) and Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) were two prime scorers, each pouring in at least 15 points and seven boards and were making their impacts felt. Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and Luke Bourgault (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute) were also efficient, each adding at least nine points, five rebounds, and one assist in the contest. Utica spread the ball around well scoring 28 points in the paint while capitalizing on turnovers scoring 20 points off them. The Pioneers were clicking on both sides of the ball with their defense leading to offense in the first half. The team enjoyed a great first half shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 58.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Pioneers had a strong defensive half with five steals and one block in the half. Utica jumped out to a quick 27-18 advantage yet SUNY Potsdam rallied to grab a 30-29 lead with 4:37 left in the half. But the Pioneers offense ended the half strong going on a 7-0 run as a pair of Luke Bourgault (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute) three pointers helped the team take a 39-35 edge into the half. Utica's offense kept rolling and started the second half on a 6-0 run to extend its lead to 48-35 at the 18:20 mark. The Pioneers were clicking on both sides of the ball with its lead not dipping below 10 for the entirety of the second half. Utica started to pour it on in the waning moments of the game extending its lead to over 20 holding a 71-50 advantage. The Pioneers continued the parade and won the game 86-70.
 
Day or Nite Still a Bucket: Dayion Thompson (Beacon, NY/Kimball Union Academy) was named Empire 8 Player of the Week and was incredible in the team's opening game dropping 25 points, three rebounds, four assists, and two steals. The sophomore was lights out from the field shooting 6-for-7 and was excellent beyond the arc going 4-for-5 and 9-for-10 from the charity stripe. Thompson was the spark plug in the second half hitting three-straight three pointers to increase Utica's lead from seven to 13 in a 1:06 span.
 
Crashin' Boards and Dropping Buckets: The duo of Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) and Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) were very efficient in all aspects against SUNY Potsdam. Both were very effective in scoring and rebounding and helped the team turn defense into offense. Brantley was consistently getting to the charity stripe and poured in 17 points with seven rebounds and six assists with a strong 12-for-14 from the free throw line. Call added 15 points and seven rebounds and was stretching the floor for the Pioneers offense adding a three-pointer on two attempts.. Utica will look to lean on these two and help the team create opportunities on offense.
 
Sharpshooting: The Pioneers were very efficient on offense shooting 48.2 percent from the field including 55 percent from beyond the arc on 11-20 shooting. It was a very balanced attack with five players each nailing a three-pointer. Thompson and Luke Bourgault (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute) led the way with Thompson going 4-for-5 with Bourgault going a perfect 3-for-3. Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) was efficient, adding two three-pointers on three attempts with Brantley and Call each adding one made triple.
 
Scouting Morrisville: The Mustangs are 0-1 this season after falling to Hobart College 66-63 on Saturday, November 11. The team is led by Daimarr Miller who was fantastic, dropping 19 points on 4-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc with five rebounds and three assists. Jakhi Lucas and Nokio Kennedy are two more viable scoring options, each pouring in at least 10 points with one three-pointer made and one steal. The team has had a strong start to the season shooting .500 percent from beyond the arc on 11-for-22 shooting. 
 
Looking at Buffalo State: The Bengals are 0-2 this season after falling to Nazareth University and SUNY Canton this past weekend at the Golden Flyer Invitational. Matt Parkinson has been fantastic to open the season averaging 19.5 points per game with 4.5 rebounds per game. Nigel Burch is another strong scoring threat averaging 13.5 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game. Bryce Williams, Jaiden Allen, and Will Beard are three more options for the team with each scoring at least nine points thus far.
 
Poly Preview: The Wildcats are 1-1 thus far and will clash with RPI and Russell Sage this week before meeting with Utica on Monday, November 20 at 7 p.m. Cheickne Toure is the team's top scorer averaging a strong 23 points per game with three three-point field goals made on eight attempts. Jarret Wilbur, Kamryn Comstock, and Dylan Ernst each average at least six points per game with Comstock and Ernst being two of the team's top rebounders each hauling in at least five rebounds per game. Poly has been efficient on defense with five steals and one block thus far. 

Up Next: The team will travel to face Ithaca College on Monday, November 27 at 6 p.m.