St. John Fisher Men's Basketball Downs Nazareth
The St. John Fisher College men’s basketball team earned a 69-55 win over East Avenue rival Nazareth College on Tuesday night in a pivotal Empire 8 Conference matchup at Fisher’s Bobby Wanzer Court.
With the win, Fisher improves to 9-7 overall and 5-2 in the Empire 8, while Nazareth falls to 9-6, 2-4.
Fisher opened up the game with a 9-0 run to take the early lead. Nazareth pulled within three points at 22-19 with 6:23 left in the half, but Fisher went on a 9-0 run and took its biggest lead of the night after seven straight points from Jordan Koch. The senior banked in a 3-pointer with the shot-clock running down and converted the free throw after being fouled. His next 3 hit nothing but net, putting the Cardinals up 31-19 with 4:04 left in the period.
The Golden Flyers, however, closed out the first half with a 12-2 run and trailed by only two at 33-31 at intermission.
Nazareth took its first lead of the game just over two minutes into the second half on a layup from Tyshun Stephens at 37-36, but it was the Golden Flyers only lead of the night.
Nazareth trailed by one point at 48-47 with 11:32 left, but Fisher took command, thanks to an 8-0 run over the next four minutes and held Nazareth to just two points over the final 5:28 to keep its advantage.
Fisher had five players in double figures. Jordan Gettings led the way with 15 points and four assists. Will Cornett and Koch each added 12 points. Cornett also led Fisher with nine rebounds and four steals, while Koch blocked a team-best three shots. Jason Norsen and Grant Wrap each scored 11 points.