Men's Basketball | 1/31/2023 10:56:00 PM
UTICA, NY - It was an electric atmosphere on Tuesday night at Miga Court between the top-two teams in the Empire 8. The Utica University men's basketball team came out on top as it took down the Nazareth College Golden Flyers for the second time this season by a score of 68-66. The Pioneers improved to 12-0 in conference play with the hard fought victory, as well as expanding their lead in the league to three games.
The win also clinched the program's fourth-consecutive trip to the Empire 8 Conference Tournament and its sixth in the last seven seasons.
Nazareth's Jonathan Park surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career in defeat.
The first place Pioneers were led by senior Darius Hopkins who tallied 19 points on 8-11 shooting from the field. The 1,000 point scorer recorded 15 of those points in the second half. Thomas Morreale and Dayion Thompson also reached double figures as Morreale had 15 points and six rebounds while Thompson had 11 points.
It was an ideal start for Utica as Hopkins connected on a mid-range jumper to open the game. The next trip down the court, Griffin Barasa buried a triple to give them an early 5-0 lead causing Nazareth to call a timeout just under two minutes into the first half.
After the timeout, the Golden Flyers went on a 6-0 burst of their own, causing coach Sean Coffey to burn a timeout with 16:25 remaining as Utica trailed by one.
The rest of the first half was back-and-forth as there were six lead changes and five ties throughout the frame. With the score tied at 25-25 with 1:42 left, Morreale went on to score six straight points connecting on back-to-back threes to give the Pioneers their largest lead of the half at 31-25. After a late basket from Nazareth, Utica went into the half ahead 31-27.
Nazareth scored an early five points to start the second half giving them a 32-31 lead. Hopkins made sure that Utica's deficit did not last long as he put in a crafty floater to put the team back in front.
Justice Brantley connected on a jump shot with 16:10 left in the game to give his team a 35-34 advantage. Within the next eight minutes, Utica could not shrug off the pesky Golden Flyers as they did not lead by more than five points.
With 8:10 remaining, Hopkins banked in a three from the right wing to give Utica an eight point lead, its largest of the half. The reigning Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year was not done as he got in his bag of tricks on the offensive end scoring six of the team's next nine points. The Florida native displayed a high level of skill during this time pushing the score to 60-52 with 5:08 left.
Damien Call made a layup with 2:45 remaining to make it a 66-58 score. Nazareth showed heart with a 6-0 run in the next one minute and 23 seconds to cut the Pioneers' lead to two.
The next possession with under a minute remaining, Thompson stepped up and rattled in a mid-range jump shot. Thompson, a two-time rookie of the week recipient, gave Utica a four point lead with 59 seconds left.
Following a Nazareth basket with 25 ticks left, Avery Coston was fouled and sent to the line for a one-and-one. Unable to connect on the first, the Golden Flyers had a chance to tie or win the game with 20 seconds left. With two seconds remaining, Zach Stenglein missed what would have been the game-winning three-point attempt as Utica prevailed in an intense game by a score of 68-66.
Utica (17-2, 12-0 Empire 8) will conclude its four-game homestand on Saturday when the team hosts Keuka College. Tip-off from Miga Court is set for 4 p.m.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
EMPIRE 8 SOCIAL MEDIA
YouTube –
Facebook –
Twitter –
Instagram