Courtesy of Utica College Sports Information Dept.
UTICA, NY – The Utica College men’s basketball team lost to visiting Empire 8 Conference opponent Hartwick College 78-65 on Tuesday night. Robert Tutein (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) scored a game high 22 points, while Ivan Iton(Ossining, NY/Ossining) scored 17 points and had a team high nine rebounds.
Utica’s record fell to 3-8 overall and 0-3 in Empire 8 play. The Pioneers return to action on Friday night at 6 p.m. when they take on Elmira College in the second of three conference home games. Hartwick improved to 8-4 overall and is now 3-0 in conference play.
The Hawks had four players score 10 or more points and were led by Jake Sinicki who had 17 points, while Joey Lufkin was second on the team and tallied 16 points.
Hartwick had a 16 point lead with 4:13 left in the first before Utica had a 36-16 run over 14:29 to take a four point lead off of a Tutein layup with 9:46 left to go in the second half. Hartwick outscored Utica 24-9 to finish out the game.
Agim Hamiti (Prishtina, Kosovo/Syracuse Academy of Science) was the only other player to get over double digits and tallied 11 points for the Pioneers. Dylan Drexler (Rochester, NY/Greece Olympia) played in his third game for UC and had an eight-point performance
In the second half of Tuesday’s men’s / women’s basketball doubleheader, Hartwick College outscored host Utica College 35-22 in the second half on its way to a key 62-53 Empire 8 Conference victory over the Pioneers women. Utica was led by 16 points from senior Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle), while sophomore guard Ashley Mayo (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) added 14 points and nine rebounds.
The Pioneers snapped a five game home winning streak and their overall record moved to 6-6 (1-2 Empire 8). Hartwick has won two of its last three conference games and moved to 4-7 overall on the season.
Four Hawks scored in double figures including Jacqui Foreman (22), Caitlin Corbett (14), Emily Stone (11) and freshman Carly Johnson (11).
Ashelynne Babb totaled eight points off the bench for the Pioneers, while Alaina Tripp (Clyde, NY/Clyde-Savannah) flirted with a double-double, netting nine points and grabbing eight rebounds. FreshmanRachel Hunter (West Islip, NY/West Islip) added four points and two rebounds for Utica.
Hartwick jumped out to a quick 12-2 lead in the first 5:20 of the contest, but the Pioneers battled right back, putting together a 12-2 run of their own to knot the score at 14-14 at the end of the first quarter.
UC added the first seven points of the second quarter, in under a minute, courtesy of two 3-pointers fromMary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) and a layup by Babb, as the Pioneers took a 21-14 advantage. Utica did not relinquish its lead for the remainder of the second half and took a 31-27 lead into the locker room at the intermission.
Utica pushed its lead back to five points, 38-33, midway through the third quarter, but the Hawks used a 9-4 run in the final 3:09 of the quarter to knot the score at 42-42 headed into the final ten minutes of action.
The score was tied twice at 44-44 (8:36) and 49-49 (3:26) in the fourth quarter, but the Hawks outscored Utica 13-4 in the final 3:14 of action to earn the Empire 8 victory.
Utica continues its three game Empire 8 home stand this weekend when the Pioneers host Elmira on Friday at 8 p.m. and Houghton on Saturday at 5 p.m.
