Second Half Rally Lifts Pioneers Past Soaring Eagles
Utica, NY (2-11-12) – The Utica College men’s basketball team overcame a double-digit second half deficit and the Pioneers went on to complete the season sweep of Elmira College, 71-68, Saturday afternoon at Speidel Gymnasium. The win marks the second straight for UC and it improved to 9-15 overall and 5-8 in Empire 8 play. The Soaring Eagles, who were coming off a huge win over Ithaca on Friday night, dropped their record to 1-23 overall and 1-12 in conference competition.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with neither team leading by more than six. The Soaring Eagles took a slight 32-30 advantage into intermission. EC manhandled Utica in the opening 20 minutes on the boards, as they outrebounded the Pioneers 26-15 overall, including a 14-5 advantage on the offensive glass. Classmates Chris Cassidy and Dan O’Brien netted 10 points apiece to lead Elmira, while Matt Baldwin led Utica with 12 points in the first half of play.
The Purple and Gold used a 22-8 run over a span of eight minutes to blow open a 13 point lead, 54-41, to begin the second half of play. However, the Pioneers responded with an impressive run of their own over the next eight minutes, as they rolled off 22 points to just five EC points, taking a 63-59 lead with just under four minutes to play. Utica led by as many as six with 18 seconds remaining, but after a Neil Randolph trifecta and a Kurt Dutcher steal the Soaring Eagles had a chance to tie the game at the end. However, Cassidy’s three-pointer with three seconds left couldn’t find the bottom of the net as the Pioneers held on to win, 71-68.
Aaron Nevins led a balanced Pioneer attack that saw five players score in double figures. Nevins finished with 18 points, while Jeff Ward had 16, Baldwin tallied 14, Chris Jeffers notched 11 and Marty Felicia contributed 10.