Courtesy: Cardinals Athletics
The St. John Fisher College men’s basketball team secured its spot in the upcoming Empire 8 Championship on Sunday as the Cardinals downed visiting Russell Sage, 88-80, in an Empire 8 bout inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court. With the win, Fisher improved to 16-5 on the season and 10-2 in the conference while the Gators fell to 10-10 overall and 4-7 in the Empire 8 standings.
It was all Sage from the opening whistle as the Gators knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers and built an 8-0 cushion just 80 seconds in. The hot start faded, however, with Fisher finding its footing to the tune of a 10-2 run fueled by seven points from Ryan Gentile to level things up at 10-10.
Both teams went stride-for-stride over the next five minutes before the Gators gained control and climbed ahead by six points, 24-18. From there, the tides shifted again with the Cardinals asserting their size and scoring 13 of the game’s next 15 points including seven from Brendan Trapper to open up a five-point advantage with under seven minutes still showing on the clock.
Trailing 31-26, Sage cut the gap to three, but was unable to come up with a timely stop on the other end of the floor as Fisher scored the game’s next nine points to grow its lead to double-digits, 40-28. Ahead by 12, both teams traded baskets over the final four minutes with the Cardinals taking a 46-36 edge into the break.
Momentum would shift as the second half got underway with the Gators orchestrating an 8-2 run over the opening three minutes to shrink Fisher’s lead to four points, 48-44. Clinging to a two-possession margin, the Cardinals scored six unanswered points as part of a larger 10-4 spurt capped off by an old-fashioned three-point play by Jack Foley that made it a 10-point game with 11:25 remaining in regulation.
Facing a steep climb midway through the second half, Sage found its rhythm and out-scored the home team 11-4 over a five-minute stretch to pull to within three with just over five minutes still showing on the clock.
After trading buckets, the Cardinals afforded themselves some breathing room when Ian Duncan kicked it to the corner for Trapper who buried a 3-pointer to stake Fisher to a six-point cushion, 77-71.
With time winding down, Sage cut the lead down to four with 3:29 to go, but Fisher recovered and scored the game’s next eight points to open up an 87-75 lead with under a minute to go.
Trapper led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting to go along with five rebounds and three assists while Daniel Cook notched his 13th double-double with 17 points and 16 boards. Gentile added 11 points in the win while Foley produced nine points off the bench. Matt Lettko contributed three points, seven rebounds and five assists off the bench.
The Cardinals are back in action at 8 p.m. on Tuesday when they invade Kidera Gymnasium to take on nationally-ranked Nazareth College in the second meeting of the Battle of the Beaks.
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