Courtesy: Fisher Athletics
Senior Brendan Trapper picked a good time to make history on Tuesday night after becoming the 26th player for the St. John Fisher College men’s basketball program to reach 1,000 career points to key the Cardinals to an 87-80 win over nationally-ranked Nazareth College. With the win, Fisher moved to 17-5 overall and 11-2 in the conference and handed the No. 23 Golden Flyers their first loss since November 13th – a span of 17 games.
Trapper, who has now scored 1,000 total points over his four-year career, finished with a game-high 30 points on 9-of-19 shooting and an 11-of-13 performance at the free throw line. Forward Daniel Cook, who is also nearing in on 1,000 career points, notched another double-double with 26 points and 14 rebounds to go along with four assists. Ryan Gentile contributed 10 points and four boards in the win while Sean Williams chipped in with nine points, six rebounds, three dimes and three steals over 28 minutes. Ian Duncan scored nine points and had five rebounds of his own.
After leading by as many as 10 points in the first half, Fisher saw its grip loosen as the half wore on with the visitors clinging to a one-possession lead at the break.
As the second half got underway, both teams traded baskets over the first five minutes of play until the Golden Flyers drew even at 42-42 before a 3-pointer at the top of the key by Williams put Fisher back on top.
Holding a three-point lead, Cook put the team on his shoulders and scored nine straight points for the Cardinals as part of a 9-2 run that afforded Fisher an eight-point cushion, 54-46.
With just over 11 minutes still showing on the clock, Nazareth would cut the gap to six points, but was unable to contain the Cardinals on the other end of the floor as Fisher rattled off seven unanswered points and scored 10 of the contest’s next 12 points to hold its largest lead of the game, 64-50, with under eight minutes to go.
As the game wore on, the lead remained firmly entrenched with Fisher, but Nazareth began to gather steam with under three minutes to go after using a 9-0 run to pull to within four with 1:37 to play.
With the Nazareth crowd in a frenzy, Williams pushed the ball across the timeline and hit Trapper for a dunk that brought the Fisher faithful to their feet and turned the tides back in the visitors’ direction.
Clinging to a slim lead, Fisher found itself at the free throw line often late in the half as the Golden Flyers tried to conserve time, but the Cardinals knocked down all eight of their attempts in the final minute to earn their 11th win in conference play.
As a team, Fisher was 31-for-64 (.484) from the field and converted 19 of the its 25 free throw attempts. The Cardinals out-rebounded the Golden Flyers, 45-37, and held Nazareth to just 39 percent shooting on the night.
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