Box Score GLASSBORO, NJ - The Utica University men's basketball team fell to Rowan University 83-72 on Saturday night in the NCAA Division III Second Round.
 
Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) shined in his final collegiate game with a career-high 30 points including shooting 6-for-13 from beyond the arc. Hopkins was also a perfect 6-for-6 from the line and collected five rebounds. 
 
Dayion Thompson (Beacon, NY/Kimball Union Academy) dropped 13 points with five assists and two rebounds. Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) scored 10 points with six rebounds and Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) had six points with six rebounds.
 
Rowan started off hot from the field jumping out to a quick 8-0 lead. Yet, Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) responded with a three pointer to cut the lead to 8-3. A Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) three pointer and Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) and-one had Utica down just 12-10 with over 13 minutes left in the first half. Rowan responded with a 4-0 run yet buckets by Luke Bourgault (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute) and Hopkins had the team down just one at 16-15 halfway through the frame. The teams exchanged scoring runs and Utica was down 27-26 with less than seven minutes to play in the half. Rowan ended the half with a few transition buckets to take a 44-31 lead into the break.
 
Rowan continued to be able to score efficiently and led 58-47 before an 8-0 Utica run cut the lead to 58-55 with just under 11 minutes left in the game. Yet, Rowan responded with an 11-0 run to hold a 69-55 edge. Utica responded to cut the lead to 75-66 with just over five minutes remaining. But Rowan held on to win 83-72 and advance to the third round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
 
Utica ends its season 23-5 overall with its first NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 17 seasons.