UTICA, NY - The Utica University men's basketball team looks to clinch its second consecutive Empire 8 regular season title this week with a trio of road games. The Pioneers will travel to St. John Fisher University on Tuesday to take on the Cardinals at 7:30 p.m. On Friday, Utica will once again travel to face an Empire 8 playoff team in Alfred University at 7:30 p.m. before rounding out the week at Elmira College at 4 p.m. on Saturday. 
 
Follow Along: St. John Fisher will provide live video through https://portal.stretchinternet.com/sjfc/ and live stats at https://sjfathletics.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary on Tuesday. On Friday, Alfred will have live video and stats through https://portal.stretchinternet.com/alfred/ while Elmira will also have live video and stats at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/elmira/ on Saturday. 
 
Last Time Out: The team extended its regular season Empire 8 winning streak to 26 games while maintaining a perfect record in league play following its - win over the Keuka College Wolves. Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) dominated Keuka defenders with a game-high 27 points on 8-for-12 from the field and 5-for-8 from three-point. He also had four rebounds and a pair of assists and steals each. Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) added 19 points while Dayion Thompson (Beacon, NY/Kimball Union Academy) also finished in double figures with 11. Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) came away with a career-high 16 rebounds in the win as well. Thanks to 50 percent shooting from three (8-for-16), the Wolves found themselves ahead 38-34 at halftime. Through the first 15 minutes of play neither team went ahead by more than four points. The back-and-forth battle was fueled by big halves out of Morreale and Brantley to ensure the game remained within striking distance. While Morreale continued his offensive attack, Hopkins began to take over as well in the second. The graduate student netted seven points over six minutes with his first three giving Utica a 41-40 lead. However, each time the Pioneers attempted to extend their lead, the Wolves responded right back. After Keuka went up 46-45 with just under 14 to play, Utica went on a 9-0 run to claim an eight-point edge with 11 to go. The Wolves kept it within single digits over the next 10 minutes while the Pioneers never let their opponents make enough of a run to make it a single possession game. Once the Keuka turned to fouls with under a minute to go, that all but sealed the deal as Utica held on to keep its unbeaten record in conference play intact. 
 
What's the Scenario: Utica enters the week 18-2 overall and at 13-0 in Empire 8 play the team holds a 2.5 game lead over Nazareth, St. John Fisher and Alfred, all of which are 11-3. The team can secure its second-straight, as well as second all-time, regular season E8 title with wins at Fisher and Alfred this week or by going 3-2 over its final five games. This scenario comes without help from any other team. Along with winning the regular season title, Utica would once again host the Empire 8 Conference Tournament Semifinals and Finals which takes place from February 24-25. 
 
Chasing History: The Pioneers are amid history as the team has beaten Empire 8 opponents in 26 straight regular season outings. However, the team is striving for more. At 13 wins in league play, Utica can surpass its program record of 15 E8 wins that was set by last season's squad by going 3-2 over its last five games. By going 5-0 over its last five games, the team will also enter the postseason with 23 wins which would tie a single-season program mark set by the 2021-22 team and the 2005-06 team. At 18-2, the Pioneers also set a new program standard for its highest winning percentage through 20 games at .900. 
 
A Little Bit of Everything: Since the calendar flipped to 2023, Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) has flipped a switch. In 11 games this calendar year, Morreale has averaged 16 points and 5.5 rebounds per game to go with 21 assists, as well as 15 steals and blocks over that span. In the nine games he played at the end of 2022, Morreale averaged 13.6 points per game and totaled 12 assists, 11 blocks and just five steals. He was a vital piece during a 2-0 week last week for Utica as he was named the Empire 8 Co-Player of the Week. Morreale averaged 21 points per game on 60.9 percent shooting from the field (14-23) and 53.8 percent from three-point (7-13). He also added five rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block per game to his weekly averages. In Utica's win over Nazareth, Morreale scored 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field and 2-for-5 shooting from three. The senior also grabbed six rebounds to go with four steals, two assists and two blocks. Morreale topped that performance with a season-high 27 points in Saturday's win over Keuka which came from 8-for-12 shooting from the floor and 5-for-8 from three. He added four rebounds, two assists and two steals to his line as well.
 
About Fisher: The Cardinals will enter Tuesday 15-6 overall and 11-3 in league play, good enough for a share of second place while tiebreakers leave the team sitting in fourth. Fisher's offense tops the league averaging 82.3 points per game, just .80 more than Utica, while its defense ranks fourth in the conference allowing 73 points per game. Daniel Cook continues to command the offense as he ranks second in the E8 averaging 18.2 points per game 53.9 percent shooting. The teams last met on January 3 in Utica which resulted in a 75-69 win for the Pioneers. However, Fisher has gone on to post a 10-1 record in its 11 games since losing to Utica a month ago. Utica has taken the last four meetings against Fisher dating back to the 2020-21 Empire 8 Championship Game. 
 
Scouting Alfred: The Saxons enter the week 16-5 overall and 11-3 in league play, good enough for a share of second place but Nazareth owning the tiebreaker over them leaves the team in third. Alfred will travel to Medaille University on Tuesday prior to hosting Utica on Friday. On the offensive end, the Saxons rank fourth in the league putting up 75.6 points per game while the defense ranks second in the E8 allowing 66.1 points per game. Look for three-point shooting to impact the game as Alfred makes the second-most threes per game in the conference with 9.3, led by Adam Enders who is second in the league knocking down 2.3 per outing. Brewster Marshall remains the focal point of the team as he ranks fifth in the E8 in scoring (16 PPG), second in field goal percentage (55.8 percent) as well as tied for second blocking 1.5 shots. Utica defeated Alfred 73-59 at home on January 14 to extend its winning streak against the Saxons to seven games. 
 
A Look at Elmira: The Soaring Eagles are 5-16 this season and sport a 4-10 record in conference play which has them in eighth place in the Empire 8. Elmira will clash with Houghton University on Tuesday before meeting with Utica on Saturday. The team is led by Riley Spencer and Quintel Clements. Spencer averages 11.5 points per game and shoots .319 percent from beyond the arc. Clements averages 8.7 points per game with 6.0 rebounds per game and is another viable option for the team. Utica has dominated the rivalry and has won 17 straight games against Elmira including beating them earlier this season on January 13 in a convincing 72-53 win.

Up Next: Utica will wrap up the regular season next week with a pair of home games, starting with Medaille University at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 17.