CORTLAND, NY - The Utica University men's basketball team avenged its home loss to Cortland last season by delivering the Red Dragons a home loss of their own this season by a score of 83-79 on Saturday afternoon. 
 
Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) notched a double-double on the afternoon with a 19 point, 10 rebound showing. He also had a pair of steals and an assist. Hagen Foley (Albany, NY/Christian Brothers Academy) (6-7 FG, 3-3 FT) and Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) (6-14 FG) poured in 15 points each while Brantley also led the team with three steals. Luke Bourgault (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute) (12) and Liam Teague (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland) (11) netted double-figures in points as well. 
 
Both teams shot right around 50 percent over the course of the game with the Pioneers holding the slight edge, 50 percent to 49.2. Utica also cashed-in on 15 of 18 free-throw attempts while out rebounding the Red Dragons, 34-31. 
 
Cortland jumped out of the gates red-hot with a 12-2 lead over the first 3:30 of play. While the hosts eventually remained out front by 10 points seven minutes into the frame, the Pioneers began to chip away at their deficit. 
 
Over a four minute span, Utica trimmed Cortland's lead down from 10 points to a tie game at 23-23 thanks to buckets by Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Call, and Foley. From there, the Pioneers didn't allow the Red Dragons to grow any lead of greater than five points until they claimed their first lead of the game with 4:08 to go in the first. 
 
From there, the Pioneers would not trail again. 
 
Utica went on to take a 41-33 lead into halftime before two quick baskets by Brantley and Morreale made it a 13 point game early in the second half. The Pioneers maintained a comfortable lead until Cortland came within three points around 13 minutes to play. 
 
A combination of Call, Brantley and Bourgault helped grow the Pioneer lead back to eight points with under 10 to go until Cortland came fighting right back, coming within four points with eight minutes to play. 
 
Throughout the rest of the half, Utica's lead stayed between five and nine points. That was, until there was one minute to play. 
 
Forcing the Pioneers to win the game from the free-throw line, the Red Dragons turned to fouls. While Utica did its part, Cortland kept things interesting by converting on a string of three-pointers down the stretch. However, it was too little too late for Cortland as the team ran out of time for Utica to come away with the victory. 
 
Utica (6-2, 1-0 Empire 8) will host the Utica University Classic on December 29 and 30, starting with its semifinal contest against Colby-Sawyer College at 4 p.m. on the 29th.