Pioneers Complete the Weekend Sweep With Win Over Elmira
Utica, NY (1-21-12) – The Utica College men’s basketball team trailed just once in the opening minutes of the contest and after the Pioneers secured an early lead they never looked back on their way to a 76-69 victory over visiting Elmira College Saturday night. The Pioneers, who were led by junior Matt Baldwin’s game-high 23 point effort, have now won two straight Empire 8 Conference contests as they improved to 6-11 overall and 2-4 in the E8.
The Soaring Eagles woes continued as they dropped to 0-16 on the year and 0-6 in conference play.
Utica used a 21-11 run in a span of 6:24 midway through the first half of play to jump out to a 30-18 lead with 9:28 remaining before the half. Elmira was able to cut their large deficit to just four at the half, 40-36, after a 16-8 run in the final 7:18 before the break. Elmira outscored UC 9-2 in the final stretch of the first half.
UC came out hot in the second half of play, outscoring the visitors 9-3 in the first 5:44 to extend its lead back to double-digits, 49-39, at the 14:10 marker. Elmira’s Josh Keys converted on three 3-pointers in a span of less than five minutes to cut the Pioneers lead to just four points, 62-58, with 5:04 left in the contest. Keys finished the day with 19 points. UC responded with a quick 5-0 run to essentially put the game out of reach.
The Pioneers made six free throws and a layup in the final two minutes to help seal the seven point victory. Marlon Davidson provided a nice spark off the bench once again as he totaled ten points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor. Sophomore Jevin McClendon was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor as he posted eight points off the bench and junior forward Jeff Ward added eight points and nine rebounds for the home team. UC was able to convert on 19 second chance points.
Dan O’Brien netted 18 points off the bench for Elmira and Chris Cassidy chipped in with 13. The Soaring Eagles got a healthy portion of their scoring from their bench play (39 points).
UC returns to the hardwood Tuesday night as it travels to Empire 8 rival Ithaca College for a conference match against the Bombers. The game will be held at Ben Light Gymnasium with a scheduled start time of 8 p.m.