UTICA, NY (12/9/2013) – The Utica College men's basketball team will head into its semester hiatus having won two of its last three games after topping visiting Union College 78-74 in non conference action at the Clark Athletic Center Saturday.  Utica, which snapped a three game slide in the all-time series against the Dutchmen, improved to 4-3 overall on the year.  Union dropped to 2-5 overall.

The Pioneers were led once in the scoring column, for the sixth time in seven games, by junior point guard Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius), who poured in 22 points (10-of-14 from the free throw line) and added five assists.  Nevins, who was named the Empire 8 Conference's Player of the Week after netting a career-high 32 points against Canton last Wednesday, also chipped in with two steals.

Senior forward Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn), who enter the contest ranked 7th nationally and first in the Empire 8 in rebounds per game, pulled down 17 boards to lead the team for the sixth time this year on the glass. Utica big man Marty Felicia (Phoenix, NY/Phoenix) also had a nice evening, posting 15 points, six rebounds and two blocks. 

Union's Kevin Weckworth totaled 17 points (7-of-13 from the floor), while team-leading scorer Terell Winner chipped in with 12 points for the visitors.  Ryan Whelpley added nine points and nine rebounds.  William Hython had a solid night off the bench, scoring 13 points and grabbing five rebounds. 

Union jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead in the contests' first 1:30, but the Pioneers responded with a 16-2 run in a span of the next 6:23 of play to take a six point advantage.  Felicia and Nevins combined for 11 of the Pioneers' 16 points in the early push.  The Utica defense also held the visitors to 1-of-10 shooting in the stretch, while forcing six turnovers. The contest featured just one lead change and after the Pioneers took the early lead 4:05 into the game, they never surrendered it for the remainder of the bout.

UC's largest lead was ten points, when it managed a 34-24 advantage with 5:29 to go in the first half of play.  After trailing by ten the Dutchmen used a 13-7 run to close out the first half and the score was set at 41-37, in favor of the Pioneers, as the halftime buzzer sounded.  Union shot 5-of-7 from the floor in the late first half run and Hython led the push with five points in the stretch. 

Union started the second half by tying the score on two occasions, at 41-41 and 43-43, but an 18-10 run by the home squad in the next 9:39 of the contest helped the Pioneers earn an eight point lead, 61-53, with 7:45 to play.  UC shot 8-of-13 from the floor in the second half run and they were once again led by a combined 11 points from Felicia and Nevins. 

Union was able to dwindle the Pioneers lead to as few as four after a 3-pointer from Weckworth late in the game, but it was not enough as Utica came away with the hard fought non conference victory.

Agim Hamiti (Prishtina, Kosovo/Syracuse Academy of Science) and Jeffers each netted eight points for the Pioneers, while Ian Henderson (Chateaugay, NY/Chateaugay) came off the bench and totaled seven points on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc. Mark Felicia (Phoenix, NY/Phoenix), twin brother of Marty, came off the bench and tallied six points and two steals for Utica.   Utica finished the evening shooting 48.2% from the floor. 

Freshman Deshon Burgess, who was recently tabbed as the Liberty League Rookie of the Week, totaled seven points and added four rebounds off the bench for Union.  The Dutchmen shot 40.6% from the floor on the afternoon.

Utica, which is in the midst of a three game home stand, will return to action on December 31 when the Pioneers host Cortland State for a non-conference match up at 1 p.m. The Pioneers are currently 2-0 at the friendly confines of the Clark Athletic Center this year. Union has one more game before its semester break and the Dutchmen will return home to the Viniar Athletic Center to host Southern Vermont College at 7 p.m. on Thursday night.