Utica took a 21-11 lead mid-way through the first half on a 3-pointer from freshman guard Doug Herring (Poughkeepsie/Newburgh), but SUNYIT responded by outscoring Utica 16-4 over the next seven minutes to take a 27-25 lead. This proved to be the last time Utica would trail in the game as Herring answered once again with a 3-pointer. The Pioneers went in to the locker rooms at the half with a 38-29 lead.
After trailing by as many as 20 points with 9:38 remaining, the Wildcats finished strong hitting four three pointers, including two from Pat Whalen (Broome CC/Johnson City), to bring SUNYIT to within six points with 27 seconds remaining. Six points would be as close as they would get as Ray Bryant (Manhattan Center/Utica), who tallied 12 points and six rebounds, knocked home two free-throws with 13 seconds remaining to seal the victory for the Pioneers.
The Pioneers, who shot 54% (29-of-53) from the floor and 68% (11-of-16) from 3-point territory on the day, were led by Herring’s career-high 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting from behind the arc.
Senior captain Justin Cichon (New Hartford/New Hartford) tallied 18 points and a game-high five assists, while classmate and co-captain Willie Lucas (Nazareth Regional/Brooklyn) scored 13 points and grabbed three rebounds.
Chris Laboard (MVCC/Bronx) led the way for SUNYIT scoring a team-high 16 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the charity stripe, while Chantal Bien-Aime (Rockland CC/Rockland) notched 14 points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point land.
The Wildcats had four player score in double-digits, including Antoine Gilkes (MVCC/Bronx) and Chris Reaves (Herkimer CC/Syracuse), who score 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Jack Lighthall (Adirondack/Boonville) scored seven points on 3-of-5 shooting form the floor, and Shawn Brown (Boys & Girls/Brooklyn) grabbed six rebounds and scored five points for the Pioneers.
Sophomore Dennis Munch (West Babylon/West Babylon) chipped in with four points and two assists, and Brian Collier (Norwich/Norwich) added four assists of his own.
Utica (6-1) returns to action at 6 p.m. January 3, 2006 against visiting Clarkson University, while SUNYIT takes on host Hilbert this Friday at 8 p.m.
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Newspaper Box Score SUNYIT vs Utica College 12-10-05 3 p.m. at Clark Atletic Center, Utica, N.Y. At Clark Atletic Center, Utica, N.Y. UTICA COLLEGE 80, SUNYIT 72 SUNYIT (4-3, 2-0 SUNYAC) LABOARD, Chris 3-9 10-14 16; BIEN-AIME, Chantal 5-8 1-2 14; GILKES, Antoine 4-15 4-5 12; REAVES, Chris 4-11 3-4 11; PLANTE, Chris 3-9 1-3 8; WHALEN, Pat 3-6 0-0 8; BROWN, Chris 1-2 1-1 3; ABUAWAD, Maher 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-62 20-29 72. UTICA COLLEGE (6-1, 0-0 EMPIRE) Doug Herring 7-10 0-0 21; Justin Cichon 6-9 4-4 18; Willie Lucas 5-10 1-2 13; Ray Bryant 5-9 2-2 12; Jack Lighthall 3-5 1-3 7; Shawn Brown 2-8 1-2 5; Dennis Munch 1-1 2-2 4; Brian Collier 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-53 11-15 80. SUNYIT........................ 29 43 - 72 Utica College................. 38 42 - 80 3-point goals-SUNYIT 6-22 (BIEN-AIME, Chantal 3-5; WHALEN, Pat 2-2; PLANTE, Chris 1-6; ABUAWAD, Maher 0-1; REAVES, Chris 0-4; GILKES, Antoine 0-1; LABOARD, Chris 0-3), Utica College 11-16 (Doug Herring 7-9; Willie Lucas 2-2; Justin Cichon 2-3; Brian Collier 0-1; Ray Bryant 0-1). Fouled out--SUNYIT-REAVES, Chris; GILKES, Antoine; ABUAWAD, Maher; LABOARD, Chris; BROWN, Chris; BIEN-AIME, Chantal; WHALEN, Pat;;;;;;;; ADAMS, J.P.;; TABOLT, Josiah; MILLIAN, Hanzley; EDWARDS, Ajani; TEAM;;;; KASERMAN, Josh; MILLER, Lol-Kirk;;; PLANTE, Chris; GUNN, Brandon;, Utica College-Shawn Brown; Ray Bryant; Justin Cichon; Willie Lucas; Jack Lighthall; Doug Herring; Dennis Munch; Kafele Fleming; Brian Collier; Kirk Poulson; Ryan McCarty; Bobby Bernhard; Michael Reid; Chris Bitetto; TEAM;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; Bradley Everett. Rebounds-SUNYIT 36 (GILKES, Antoine 15), Utica College 34 (Shawn Brown 6; Ray Bryant 6). Assists-SUNYIT 12 (BIEN-AIME, Chantal 4), Utica College 24 (Justin Cichon 5). Total fouls-SUNYIT 16, Utica College 18. Utica defeated SUNYIT 90-77 in the championship of the SUNYIT Tip-Off Tourn. on November 19, 2005.