Men's Basketball | 3/2/2023 1:04:00 PM
UTICA, NY - For the first time since the 2005-06 season, the Utica University men's basketball team will take part in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Pioneers will travel to Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey for its NCAA First Round matchup against Babson College on Friday, March 3 at 5 p.m. If the Pioneers defeat Babson, the team will play the winner of Rowan and Cal Lutheran at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday in the NCAA Second Round.
Follow Along: On Friday, fans can keep up with live stats through
https://www.rowanathletics.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary and can watch live at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvzMG8ddT8M. If Utica advances to Saturday, live stats will be available at
https://www.rowanathletics.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary and live video at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjXwB5Xk8L8.
Ticket Info: Admission for Friday and Saturday games will be $15 for adults, $10 for children, seniors and students while children under two are free of charge.
Last Time Out: The team fell to the St. John Fisher Cardinals 70-65 in the Empire 8 Semifinals on Friday evening. Darius Hopkins led the Pioneers with 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field and 2-for-3 from three-point. He also added three steals and a pair of assists to his line. Avery Coston netted 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the floor and 4-for-7 from three to go with four rebounds. Thomas Morreale and Dayion Thompson each totaled 11 points on a combined 10-for-17 shooting. For the Cardinals, Empire 8 Player of the year Daniel Cook had a 12 point, 10 rebound double-double while four of his teammates also figured in double figures. As a team, Utica shot 47.9 percent from the field (23-48), 37.5 percent from three (6-16) and 54.2 percent from the free throw line (13-24). The team was also outrebounded by Fisher 37-27 including 9-4 on the offensive end. The Pioneers came out of the gates with good rhythm as Darius Hopkins kicked things off with a 10-foot jumper followed by a three-pointer and layup by Coston for an early 7-2 edge. The Cardinals found their stride as well a few minutes later. The sides traded blows from beyond the arc, Fisher jumped back out to 17-16 at the 12:21 mark. From there, the pesky fourth seed remained in the lead, albeit by six or less, until roughly 2:30 to play. Brantley and Morreale closed out the half strong for Utica, ensuring the game would enter the midway point with the sides even at 37-37. Much like the first half, the Pioneers came out strong in the second. The team opened the final 20 minutes of play on a 13-3 run to go up by 10 at 50-40 with 12:49 to go. However, the Cardinals stayed within striking distance. Slowly but surely the visitors chipped away until the score was once again tied, this time 55-55 with 7:20 left. Following free throws by Brantley and a pretty turnaround shot by Thompson, Fisher responded with a triple to take its first lead of the half at 60-59. The score remained deadlocked at 60 all for nearly two minutes until Jack Foley buried a three with 2:12 left for a three-point advantage. On the ensuing Utica possession with the shot clock nearing zero, Hopkins sent up a prayer from well beyond the arc that found its way through the bottom of the net to tie things back up at 63. The Cardinals collected an offensive rebound on their next trip down the court which set up a Ryan Gentile three to give the team a 66-63 lead with 1:12 to play. From there, the Pioneers could not recover. Fisher drained their free throws down the stretch to come out with the upset win over Utica.
Let's Dance: It's been 17 seasons but alas, the Pioneers are back playing in the national tournament. The last time Utica appeared in the NCAA Tournament in the 2005-06 season the team made it to the third round after defeating Gordon College and WPI in the first and second rounds, respectively. Utica ultimately fell to St. John Fisher in the round of 16, 94-78.
Bright as the Lights: Darius Hopkins was named to the Empire 8 All-Tournament Team, as announced by the league on Tuesday. In Utica's semifinal game against St. John Fisher University, Hopkins led the team with 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field and 2-for-3 from three-point. He also added three steals and a pair of assists to his line. It is Hopkins' third time being selected to the all-tournament team after receiving the honor in 2021-22 and in 2019-20. One of the longest tenured players in program history, who also finds himself fourth all-time with 1,414 career points, will now be able to put his game on national display after the COVID-19 pandemic prevented him from doing so in the 2020-21 season.
Coston's Coming: In the Empire 8 semifinals game against St. Johns Fisher University, Avery Coston scored 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field. Coston led the team making four three pointers, shooting 4-for-7 from behind the arc. He also contributed with four rebounds, an assist and a steal. One of the most versatile players in program history, who compiled 929 points, 202 assists and over 350 rebounds over his career, the graduate student will get to perform on the national stage after being unable to in the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senior Display: Also appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time will be seniors Thomas Morreale and Justice Brantley. Morreale led the team with two blocks and five rebounds in the Empire 8 semifinal game against St. John Fisher University. He also put up 11 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the court and added a steal to his line. Brantely came along with five rebounds while making a game high eight free throws in the game. Brantley led the team with three steals. Morreale and Brantley both had the task of guarding the three-time Empire 8 Player of the Year Daniel Cook, forward for St. John Fisher, in the semifinal game. This season, Morreale became a four-time Empire 8 All-Conference selection and the 17th player in program history to reach 1,000 points. He is also 15 rebounds shy of becoming the fifth player in program history to reach 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds. Justice Brantley earned his first Empire 8 All-Conference Conference honor and is the team-leading scorer averaging 15.9 points while collecting 7.7 rebounds per game. The seniors will have an opportunity to display their skills on the national stage after COVID-19 pandemic prevented them from doing so in the 2020-21 season.
Bring the Youth: Griffin Barasa and Daiyon Thompson played 20 minutes each in Utica's semifinal game against St. John Fisher University. Barasa led the team with three assists and a blocked shot. Thompson came off the bench scoring 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting and a rebound. Barasa, the athletic ball handler and outstanding defender as a sophomore, and Thompson averaging 10.7 points per game and totaled 32 steals in his freshman season so far, gets an early sniff of the NCCA tournament.
About Babson: The Beavers were 17-8 in the regular season and 10-4 in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference play, good enough for the third seed in the NEWMAC Tournament. In the NEWMAC, they faced second-seeded Emerson College and won 69-64 to advance to the championship. In the NEWMAC Championship game, Babson took on top-seeded Worcester Polytechnic Institute which resulted in a 59-53 win to claim the NEWMAC title for the first time since 2016, the year before the team won the 2017 NCAA Division III Championship. Babson is very hot going into the NCAA Tournament, posting an 11-1 record since January 14, 2023. In the last 12 games, Babson has only allowed an average of 59 points per game to their opponents. Nate Amado leads the team scoring 17.1 points per game. Andrew Kitzpatrick is the team's top facilitator with 72 assists on the season while averaging the second most points per game with 15 in 27 games played. On the defensive end, Timmy O'Toole leads the team with 45 steals contributing to the Beavers 242 steals. Utica and Babson have met two other times, once in 1984 and another time in 2012.
The Field: The NJAC champion Profs enter the tournament 22-5 overall and do so as the host of the first two rounds. There's no shortage of points amongst the team as Rowan ranks fourth in all of Division III averaging 92.7 points per game with much of the production coming from Ja'Zere Noel, who is 48th in the nation scoring 19.7 points per game on nearly 50 percent shooting. He's also a big piece for the team on the glass registering 7.8 rebounds per game. Aside from Noel, the Profs feature three different double-digit scorers in Marcellus Ross (14.4 PPG), Andrew Seager (13.7 PPG) and Josh Wright, who nets 12 points per game off the bench. While the team can score at will, its defense ranks near the bottom of DIII (364th out of 412 teams) allowing 80 points per game. If Utica and Rowan meet, it will be the first all-time matchup between the teams. Utica and Cal Lutheran would also feature a first-time matchup if paired in the NCAA Second Round. The Kingsmen enter the tournament by way of an auto bid after winning the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference thanks to a thrilling 69-68 win over Redlands. The team is 13-13 overall coming into the dance and is led by Devon Lewis (13.3 PPG, 44.8 FG%), Tommy Griffitts (12.7 PPG, 60 FG%) and Brock Susko (10.5 PPG, 45.5 FG%) on offense.
Up Next: If Utica comes out of the Rowan Pod, the team will advance to third round action, much like it did the last time the team qualified for NCAA play. The third round is set to begin next Friday, March 10. Location, opponent, and time are all TBD.
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.
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