UTICA, NY - The Utica University men's basketball team is set to host Nazareth University on Tuesday, January 30 at 7:30 p.m. before hitting the road to face Hartwick College on Friday, February 2nd at 7:30 p.m. and Russell Sage College on Saturday, February 3 at 4 p.m.
 
Follow Along: Those unable to attend Tuesday's home game can tune in for live video and/or stats here. Hartwick will provide live video here and/or live stats here. Russell Sage will provide live video here and live stats here.  
 
Last Time Out: The team topped Houghton University 94-77 last Saturday afternoon. Utica was getting to the rack all night long scoring 48 points in the paint and scoring 10 points off turnovers. Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) became the 18th player in program history to reach the 1,000 career points mark after pouring in 20 points with five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Hagen Foley (Albany, NY/Christian Brothers Academy) was also terrific dropping 22 points with three rebounds, four assists and two steals on 8-for-10 shooting from the field. Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) turned in another double-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and a team-high three steals. Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) was efficient, scoring nine points on 3-for-4 from beyond the arc with Jackson Atty (Johnstown, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) and Luke Bourgault (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute) each contributing seven points. Utica came out firing with a quick 9-2 lead with buckets by Call, Brantley, Foley, and Bourgault. Back-to-back Brantley and Bourgault triples pushed the lead to 15-5 and this was followed up by a Foley and-one. The Pioneers continued to roll offensively and spread the rock well with another Foley three-pointer pushing the advantage to 29-13 just over halfway through the first half. Utica continued to push the ball and produce on the offensive end with Call, Jackson Atty (Johnstown, NY/Fonda-Fultonville), and Barasa each canning a jumper in three-straight trips. The Pioneers used another scoring run to lead 44-18 with just under five minutes in the first half. Morreale nailed a deep triple with just eight seconds left to aid Utica in taking a 56-24 advantage into the half. The teams exchanged a pair of buckets to open the second half with the Highlanders offense starting to consistently convert its opportunities. Houghton cut the deficit to under 30 yet Utica kept its offense rolling, leading 74-44 at the 11:48 mark. The Highlanders started to find their stroke from behind the arc and play through JaJuan Preaster who nailed back-to-back jumpers to cut the Pioneers lead down to 82-60 at the 7:58 mark. The teams went bucket for bucket with Houghton trimming the lead to 17 with just under three minutes to play. Utica played strong defense down the stretch and hit a few buckets to hold on for a 94-77 Empire 8 victory. 
 
In the Polls: Utica returns to the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll as the team received two votes in the latest poll. The D3hoops.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly. Points are awarded on a 25-24-23-22-etc. Basis. The newest poll is set to come out late Monday or early Tuesday at D3hoops.com. 
 
One for the Record Books: Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) turned in a fantastic week dropping 14 points with nine rebounds, four assists, and a season-high six steals to lead the team to a win over Hartwick. The Catskill, NY native followed this up with 20 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals to lead the team to another Empire 8 win while also becoming the 18th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points.
 
Double-Double Dame: Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) has been playing lights out recently and has been a large reason for the team's success. Call has been a double-double machine as of late, recording three in his last four outings. Call has been churning in crooked stat lines and his defensive presence has led to plenty of fast break opportunities while his dunks have injected energy into the team and the crowd.
 
I'll Take 3 Please: Hagen Foley (Albany, NY/Christian Brothers Academy) has been nothing short of terrific for the Pioneers and turned in another strong week. The junior's best outing came against Houghton dropping a Pioneer career-high with 22 points, three rebounds, four assists, and two steals on an unconscious 8-for-10 from the field. Foley continues to be lethal from beyond the arc with a gaudy 20-for-32 from deep this season and consistently hits the big shots for Utica.
 
Battle Loading: The Golden Flyers are 12-6 this season and 9-1 in Empire 8 play which has them second in the conference standings. Nazareth topped Russell Sage College 86-60 in its last outing on January 27 and fell to Utica 77-75 in overtime on January 9. Fans need to get their popcorn ready with Utica winning four of the last five battles including two of those going to overtime. Logan Blankenberg leads the squad averaging 16.1 points per game while averaging 7.8 rebounds per game and shooting nearly 44 percent from beyond the arc on over 80 attempts. Jordan Haggard, Jaylen Savage, and Jack Broderick are three more reliable scoring options with each averaging at least 10.7 points per game and 3.7 rebounds per game. Tyler Putney is a fine shooter with 39 made three-pointers this season and is one of the top deep range threats in the conference.
 
Looking at the Hawks: Hartwick is 1-16 this season and sports an 0-10 conference record which is ninth in the Empire 8 standings. The Hawks fell to St. John Fisher University 96-71 in its last outing on January 27 and fell to Utica 78-69 in a hard fought battle on January 23. Daniel Oyediran leads the squad averaging 13.5 points per game with Jaden Carter being another fine scorer averaging 8.5 points per game and being the team's top perimeter threat with 15 made three-pointers this season. Henry Perkins is another scoring option averaging 7.2 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game while providing the team with a ferocious rebounder and inside scorer.
 
Scouting the Gators: Sage is 8-11 this season and 1-9 in Empire 8 play which has them eighth in the conference standings. The team fell to Nazareth University 86-60 in its last outing on January 27 and will clash with Keuka before hosting Utica. The Pioneers topped Sage 77-63 on January 5 in the teams first meeting this season. Noah Girard is one of the conference's top scorers averaging 16.5 points per game including shooting 35.4 percent from deep. Jackson Brown and Todd Williamson are two more scoring options each averaging more than 8.1 points per game with the latter also being the team's top rebounder averaging 6 rebounds per game. Girard is a fine defender averaging 1.7 steals per game with Williamson also being a strong defender averaging one steal per game. 
 
Up Next: The team will remain on the road and clash with St. John Fisher University on Tuesday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m.