Utica 69, Ithaca 66 - Men's Basketball Final

Ithaca, NY (2/15/2013) – With the scored tied at 66-66 and 3.8 seconds remaining on the clock, UC junior Connor Maisch (Kingston, NY/John A. Coleman) took the inbounds pass in the corner, stepped back, and nailed the game-winning 3-pointer to lift Utica College to a huge 69-66 men's basketball victory over host Ithaca College on Friday night in Empire 8 Conference action at Ben Light Gymnasium.

Maisch finished the day with a team-high 18 points for the Pioneers. UC (11-13, 7-6 Empire) now needs a win at Elmira tomorrow and an Ithaca win over Nazareth to earn a spot in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign. Ithaca dropped to 16-8 overall and 9-4 in conference play after the loss. Top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology will host the conference tournament next weekend in Hoboken, NJ.

Junior Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) finished the day with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Marion Lewis (Bronx, NY/Lehman) came off the bench and netted 13 points for the Pioneers.

The Pioneers led 60-51 with 2:58 remaining in regulation before the Bombers went on a 15-6 run to knot the score at 66-66 with 11 ticks left on the game clock. The Pioneers took the ball down the court and Maisch got an open 3-point look with about six seconds left, but the shot did not fall. The ball was eventually tipped out of bounds by Ithaca, leaving UC with one more chance with 3.8 seconds left. After a Utica time out, Chirs Jeffers inbounded the ball to Maisch in the corner, Maisch made one quick move, stepped back and launched a high arching 3-pointer over the outstretched hands of Ithaca guard Sean Rossi. The shot hit nothing but the bottom of the net and the Pioneers led by three points, 69-66, with 0.2 left on the clock. Ithaca was able to heave up a desperation shot from ¾'s court, but the shot fell short as the Pioneers playoff hopes remained intact.

UC used a 9-0 midway through the second half to erase a six point deficit as the Pioneers earned a 45-42 lead with 10:36 left in the contest. The final ten minutes saw two lead changes and two ties, including Ithaca's tie at 66-66 with 11 seconds left after Eli Maravich tipped home the game-tying bucket as time winded down.

The first half was filled with back and forth action that resulted in five ties and seven lead changes, but Maravich hit a 3-pointer late in the first half to give the Bombers a 33-29 lead as the first half clock expired.

Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) scored 10 points, including going 6-for-8 from the charity stripe for UC, while Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School) scored six points and grabbed four rebounds.

Travis Warech netted a game-high 25 points for Ithaca before fouling out late in the second half. Rossie added 10 assists as he inched closer to the NCAA Division III record for assists in a career.

Utica will take on host Elmira Saturday at 4 p.m. in its regular season finale. The Pioneers defeated the Soaring Eagles 85-74 in their first meeting of the regular season back on Jan. 19th.