St. John Fisher Captures Woodcliff Title
The St. John Fisher College men’s basketball team used a pivotal run over a 10-minute span midway through the first half and some sharp-shooting in the second half to defeat Dickinson College 78-70 in the championship game of the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa Tournament on Friday at Fisher’s Bobby Wanzer Court.
With the game tied at 6-6 with 16:34 left in the first half, the Cardinals (7-3) scored 21 of the game’s next 25 points to take the lead for good. Freshman Optimystik Kinard came off the bench and scored all 11 of his first-half points during the run.
The Cardinals led 36-20 at the break, despite senior Jordan Gettings (17.2 points per game) and Jason Norsen (18.3 ppg) combining to score just two points.
Thad Wier, who led all scorers in the first half with 12 points, scored nine of Fisher’s first 11 points of the second half on three 3-pointers to push the Cardinals’ lead to 18 at 47-29 less than four minutes into the second half.
Kinard, Gettings and freshman Adam Ambielli also knocked down 3-pointers in the second half, as the Cardinals shot 10-for-20 from 3-point range for the game.
The Red Devils trimmed Fisher’s lead down to single digits multiple times in the final two minutes, but never got closer than eight, as Fisher sealed the win from the foul line, making 11 straight free throws to end the game.
Wier led the Cardinals with a career-high 25 points. Justin Plata scored 15 points, including nine in the first half, while Kinard finished with 16 points and three steals. Fisher has now won five straight games.
Gettings and Norsen each scored eight. Norsen also led Fisher with five blocks and seven rebounds.
For Dickinson (5-6), Gerry Wixted scored a game-high 27 points, while Adam Honig added 20 points.