The St. John Fisher College men’s basketball team defeated Stevens Institute of Technology, 71-61, on Friday night at Manning and Napier Gymnasium in an Empire 8 Men’s Basketball Championship semifinal.
Fisher, ranked 22 in the nation and first place regionally, was able to end the first half on an 8-0 run to take a 33-20 lead into the break, and Stevens could not get closer than eight points the rest of the way. With the win, No. 1 seed and host St. John Fisher advances to the Empire 8 Championship game versus the winner of the tonight's second semifinal between Ithaca and Nazareth Colleges.
Fisher took an early 4-2 lead 2:30 into the game thanks to a tip-in by sophomore guard Jordan Gettings. and a short turnaround jumper from senior center Michael Wopperer
The Ducks came back to score five of the game’s next seven points to take a 7-6 lead with 16:00 to play in the first half, the last two coming from a driving layup by senior guard George Greco. Fisher converted 1-of-2 at the line to tie the score and after an empty Duck possession junior forward Brandon Witte found a cutting Gettings to help the Cardinals regain the lead (9-7) for good.
A Gettings jumper and Witte move in the paint pushed the Cardinal advantage to six (13-7) with 13:21 left in the opening half, but freshman guard Russ Thompson stopped the run at seven (7-0) with a long three-pointer from the right side.
Thompson hit another triple from straight on to pull the Ducks within one at 15-14, but Cardinal big-man Jason Norsen scored underneath to push the advantage back to three with 10 minutes left in the first half.
After several empty possessions for each team, Gettings found an open Matt Newman in the left corner for a triple and the lead stayed between five and eight points over the next four-plus minutes.
The Ducks made a it a five-point game, with a little more than three minutes to play in the first half, but the Cardinals went on an 8-0 run to end the half, taking a 33-20 lead into the locker room. 3-pointers from Gettings and sophomore guard Connor Henderson keyed the spurt.
Gettings scored 12 points in the first half to lead all scorers as the Cardinals shot 46.4 percent (13-of-28) from the floor and hit three 3-pointers (3-for-8). The Ducks shot just 5-for-21 (23.8 percent) and were led by Thompson’s six points. Stevens held an 18-15 edge in rebounds, but committed seven turnovers. Fisher turned the ball over just one time and assisted on six of its 13 made baskets.
A three-point play from sophomore forward Simon Smith pulled the Ducks to within nine at 36-27, but the Cardinals responded, eventually getting a 3-pointer from Newman to take a 40-29 lead.
Fisher was able to keep that lead between nine and 12 points over the game’s next six minutes before opening up a 15-point advantage on a pair of Witte free throws. After a Stevens timeout, junior center Bryan Franklin notched a put-back to slow the momentum, but Gettings had the answer on the other end.
A pair of Masone free throws cut the lead to nine with 1:51 left, and a 3-pointer from Cutri with 38.7 second left made it an eight-point game, but the gritty Cardinals did what they had to at the line to earn the win.
Gettings ended the contest with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting. He also grabbed two rebounds and handed out three assists. Newman scored 20 points to lead all scorers, and Norsen scored six points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Fisher hit 30-of-40 from the free-throw line and shot 39 percent from the floor. The Cardinals hit five from long range and committed just four turnovers compared to 12 for Stevens.
Stevens shot 20-of-54 (37 percent) from the field and was 14-of-20 at the line. The Ducks ended the contest with a 38-30 advantage on the glass and were led by Smith’s 13 points and 11 rebounds. Cutri finished with 12 points and seven boards for the Ducks.