St. John Fisher Advances to Woodcliff Championship
The St. John Fisher College men’s basketball team advanced to the championship game of the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa Invitational with a 90-51 win over visiting Farmingdale State College on Wednesday night at Fisher’s Bobby Wanzer Court.
With the win, the Cardinals (4-5), winners of three straight, will now face Clark University at 3 p.m. on Thursday in the finals. Clark defeated Penn State-Behrend 83-73 in overtime in Wednesday’s other opening round game. Farmingdale State and Penn State-Behrend will play at 1 p.m. in the third-place game.
After playing to a 10-10 tie over the opening six minutes, Fisher began to pull away and outscored the Rams 39-16 over the next 14 minutes, including a 10-2 run over the final four minutes of the half, to take a 49-26 lead into the locker room. The Cardinals shot 56.7% from the floor and were 100% (12-for-12) from the foul line in the first half, while the Rams were 7-for-31 (22.6%) from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
Fisher opened the second half with a 9-0 run over the first two minutes and never looked back.
Thirteen different players scored for the Cardinals and no player saw more than 20 minutes of action.
Jordan Koch led the Cardinals with a season-high 16 points, shooting 6-for-9 from the floor and 4-for-7 from 3-point range. Koch, Fisher’s top returning scorer from last season, had just four 3-pointers in Fisher’s previous eight games.
Jason Norsen totaled 10 points and six rebounds, while Jordan Gettings chipped in with 10 points. Justin Plata went 3-for-3 from the floor and tallied eight points and two blocked shots – all in the first half.
Freshman Brent Harder led the team with five assists and added eight points. Brandon Witte also scored eight points, while grabbing five boards.
Will Cornett delivered a well-rounded performance, finishing with six points, six rebounds, three steals and three assists.