Box Score

Utica 89, Canton 66 - Men's Basketball Final

Canton, NY (11/28/2012) – Senior shooting guard Matt Baldwin (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) netted a season-high 22 points and six-man Marion Lewis (Bronx, NY/Lehman) chipped in with a career-best 21 point effort as the Utica College men's basketball team snapped a two game slide after a convincing 89-66 win over host SUNY Canton Wednesday night. The Pioneers jumped out to a 53-28 halftime lead and never looked back as they improved to 2-3 overall on the year. 

Utica came of the gates quick in the first half, shooting 61.5% from behind the arc, while knocking down  eight 3-pointers. With the score set at 10-6 with less than five minutes into the game the Pioneers' used a 19-7 run to take a 16 point lead midway through the first half. UC then used a 21-9 run to take a 25 point lead with about a minute to go in the half. 

The Pioneers stretched their lead to 29 points early in the second half and the Roos made one small run, lowering their deficit to 18 points with 1:23 to go, but it proved to be much too late as UC cruised to the 23 point victory.

Senior forward Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School) broke out with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) registered his typical eight points and nine rebounds.  Junior transfer Connor Maisch (Kingston, NY/John A. Coleman) registered a team-high eight assists to go along with his six points.  Starting point guard Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) also added six assists. Sophomore big man Marty Felicia (Phoenix, NY/Phoenix) came off the bench and made 3-of-3 shots for a season-best seven points.

The Pioneers knocked down nine 3-pointers and shot 53.6% (37-of-69) from the floor on their way to the 23 point victory. 

UC scored 52 of its points in the paint and netted 12 points on fast break opportunities. The Pioneers also go a huge lift from their bench, which totaled 33 points all together.

Canton, which outscored UC 38-36 in the second half, decreased its record to 1-3 overall.  Khalid Vaugh led the Roo's with 19 points, while Xavier Fisher chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Utica will now take a six day break before it opens up Empire 8 Conference play on the hardwood at Hartwick College next Tuesday.  Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.

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