Men's Basketball | 12/29/2021 7:26:00 PM
UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's basketball team came away winners in the battle of the Pioneers with a 90-77 win over Alfred State in the Utica College Classic on Wednesday evening.
Alfred St. controlled much of the first half as the team either held the lead or was tied with Utica through the first 12 minutes of the game. UC claimed its first lead at 20-19 with 7:55 left in the first half off of a Justice Brantley layup in what was his season debut. Alfred St. responded back quickly with a bucket to go up 21-20 however, Darius Hopkins scored for UC on the following possession which would put the team in the lead for the remainder of the game. Utica would go on to take a 44-31 lead into halftime.
In the first few minutes of the second half, Thomas Morreale, Avery Coston and Hopkins contributed to extending UC's lead to 51-33. Alfred St. turned on the pressure throughout the second half which led to a few costly Utica turnovers that helped Alfred St. crawl back within 10 points with under 10 minutes to play. The Pioneers were eventually able to break the press, leading to 26 fast break points en route to their 90-77 win.
Morreale led the Pioneers with 23 points on 55 percent shooting (11-20) and also came away with seven rebounds. Hopkins totaled 16 points while Coston ended with 11 and Kobe Lufkin with 10. Damien Call led the team with eight rebounds while he and Chris Green totaled nine points each in the win.
UC (6-1, 0-0 Empire 8) is set to host No. 17 Williams College tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the second game of the Utica College Classic.