UTICA, NY - The Pioneers returned to Miga Court on Friday night in search of a big performance to put them back on the right path and help them regain their recent momentum during this year's Empire 8 season. Against a hot Highlander team, Utica found exactly what they were looking for. Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) piloted the Pioneers in an excellent outing to kick off a big weekend, with the big man feeding off of the crowd's energy all night en route to a statement performance in a massive 80-56 victory over Houghton.
 
Call was amped right from the get-go, going wire-to-wire as the game's leading scorer. The dangerous forward got it done on all phases of offense, scoring at will from varying distances and racking up a game-high 21 points in the winning effort. Call's contribution was much sought after with the Pioneers only a few pieces away from taking home some big wins recently. The local product was also efficient, nailing 10 of his 12 attempts on the night.
 
The other Pioneers also fed off of the attention that Call began to attract, with Dayion Thompson (Beacon, NY/Kimball Union Academy) and Jordan Cain (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee) also notching double-digit scoring nights. Thompson tallied 11 points in his 20 minutes of playing time, scoring at a high volume while on the court. Cain also helped to put the tie away late, getting 10 points with most of his scoring coming near the end of the contest.
 
Hagen Foley (Albany, NY/Christian Brothers Academy), Liam Teague (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland), and Isaiah Smith (Amsterdam, NY/Schalmont) each scored eight to round out the premier point-getters for the Pioneers on Friday night. Teague also hit two big threes in the second half to help the hosts re-establish their 20-point lead over the Highlanders, a gap that would not dip below 20 for the rest of the game thereafter.
 
The Pioneers as a whole shot stellar on Friday night, hitting 34 of their 57 attempts from the field (59.6%). They dominated in the paint to the tune of 48 total points scored from down low, and also got great contributions from the bench as they saw 31 points amassed by bench players in the victory.
 
Utica improved to 8-6 with the win, and 2-3 in the Empire 8, setting up a big bout tomorrow afternoon as they face Alfred University, the team directly above them in the standings. They'll tip off with the Saxons tomorrow at 4:00 PM for a chance to place themselves firmly in the early Empire 8 Tournament talk.
 
Game Summary: Call charged the masses off the opening tip, putting down a massive alley-oop just seconds into the game off a beautiful pass from Thompson. The early highlight got the crowd going right away as the Utica student section made their presence known in what was undoubtedly their best showing so far this season.
 
Call fed off of the energy, getting off to a scorching start as he proceeded to hit a floater and a corner three shortly after that. The Pioneer big man notched eight of Utica's first 14 points, a welcome sight for a Utica squad that had been waiting for some major contributions from Call.
 
The Rome native used his newfound offensive gravity to find a cutting Cain along the baseline, getting the hosts out to a 16-13 lead heading into a Utica timeout as Coach Coffey attempted to organize his team and mount a monumental run to enter the half.
 
The Pioneers did just that, immediately embarking on a 23-14 run over the next 11 minutes to secure a 39-27 advantage at the halftime buzzer.
 
Call put in 13 points to lead all first half scorers, with Foley not far behind at eight points.
 
Utica looked for a run right out of the second half gate to dig the Highlanders' an even deeper hole and potentially put the proceedings out of reach.
 
Thompson tallied the first points of the second half, hitting a smooth stepback to steer the Pioneers in the right direction. Call then capitalized on the good start, scoring the next three baskets using some vintage post play and a tight turnaround jumper to put a stamp on Utica's 8-0 run to begin the restart.
 
With Utica's lead now at 20, they were making great strides towards accomplishing their goal of achieving a lethal run to begin the final 20 minutes of play.
 
Houghton pushed back, getting their own 4-0 burst to stall the momentum, however Call punched right back to boost his scoring total to 21 with 15 minutes still to play in the contest.
 
Teague then came alive, completing the night's perfect one-two punch at forward for Utica. The Guilderland grad landed two longballs and assisted on a beautiful backdoor basket by Isaiah Smith (Amsterdam, NY/Schalmont) to prompt a timeout by the Highlanders and balloon the lead to 24.
 
The Pioneers pushed their advantage to nearly 30, getting it to 29 off a Ryan McCardle (Hurley, NY/Kingston) three at 78-49 Utica. The lead would hover around the mid-twenties over the final six or so minutes of play, as the Pioneers emerged victorious and gained a big win to begin the weekend.