ROCHESTER, NY - Two members of the Utica University men's basketball team have been named to the Empire 8 Conference Tournament All-Tournament Team, as announced by the league on Tuesday.
Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) averaged 13.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game while shooting 59.3 percent from the floor (16-of-27) in three of postseason contests. He scored 15 points to go along with 10 boards and five assists in Utica's E8 quarterfinal win on Feb. 22 over No. 7 seed Houghton University. On Feb. 26, Call did it all with 10 rebounds, seven assists and seven points in the 85-79 win over No. 3 Nazareth in the Empire 8 Semifinal In Saturday's championship game, Call scored 12 of his 18 points in the first half, leading the Pioneers to an 89-76 win over No. 4 SUNY Poly in a battle of Utica institutions to claim the E8 title.
Liam Teague (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland) joined Call on the All-Tournament Team after averaging 17.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game in the three wins, while shooting 57.5 percent from the field (23-of-40) in just 60 minutes of play. Teague had 22 points and nine boards in the semifinal win over Nazareth, while scoring 18 points to go along with eight rebounds and four blocks in the title game Saturday.
Utica has clinched a spot in the NCAA DIII Men's Basketball Tournament, and will travel to Montclair, NJ to take on the Montclair State University Red Hawks on Friday, March 7.
