ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick dropped a 90-83 contest on Tuesday night to visiting Utica College at Lambros Arena. The loss is the Hawks' fourth straight in league play. They are now 8-8 and 3-4 in the E8.
            'Wick trailed Utica (7-10, 3-5 E8) by as many as 12 points in the second half but got as close as four with 2:20 remaining following back-to-back three-pointers from Justin Pratt (North Kingstown, RI/North Kingstown).
            Utica's Connor Maisch answered with a three with under two minutes left before Matt Petruccione (Saratoga Springs, NY/Bishop Maginn) connected on a layup for 'Wick at the 1:40 mark to cut it to five, 85-80. The Hawks fouled and the Pioneers missed on the front-end of a one-and-one giving 'Wick a chance to pull within three but they missed on a layup and UC would close it out from the foul line in the last minute.
             Matt Wilson (Shelton, CT/Franklin & Marshall College) was virtually unstoppable for the Hawks as he netted a game- and career-high 27 points. He made 11 of his 14 shots (.786) from the floor on the night and also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
            Jake Sinicki (Endicott, NY/Maine Endwell) added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Hawks and Trevor Norton (Mullica Hill, NJ/Ursinus College) scored 14.
            Aaron Nevins led the Pioneers with 21 points. Robert Tutein scored 19, Maisch finished with 17, Chris Jeffers tallied 11, and Ivan Iton recorded 10.
             In the first half, the Hawks took an early 6-2 run only to have the Pioneers score the game's next nine points to take an 11-6 edge. Hartwick took a one-point lead, 14-13, on a Joey Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) three-pointer with 10:16 left in the half but it would be the Hawks' final lead of the night.
            UC led 29-25 with two and a half minutes left but a 9-3 run to close the half handed it a 38-28 lead heading into the locker room.
            Both teams were on fire in the second half of play. Utica made 61.5% (16-of-26) from the floor, including a 69.2% (9-of-13) performance from beyond the three-point arc. The Hawks made 60% (21-for-35) from the field with five three's in the half.
            The Pioneers went up by 12 early in the half but the Hawks would chip away at the lead over the next eight minutes. A three from Sinicki tied the score at 55-55 with 11:37 to go. A trey on the other end of the court from Rich Smith gave UC the lead for the rest of the contest.
            The Utica advantage swelled to 11 points twice before Pratt's pair from the outside got the Hawks to four before the Pioneers pulled away late.
            The Pioneers would finish with 11 three-point baskets and a 53.3% (32-for-60) shooting performance from the floor. The Hawks made 46.4% (32-for-69) as a team.
            Lufkin ended the game with nine points. Pratt scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds and Petruccione tallied six points.
            Hartwick has one final home game on Friday against Stevens before hitting the road for six consecutive Empire 8 games between January 30 and February 14. They wrap up the conference slate at home on February 20-21 against St. John Fisher and Nazareth.