Fisher Advances to E8 Final After Edging Nazareth
PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The top-seeded St. John Fisher College men's basketball team held off a late rally by the fourth-seeded Nazareth College Golden Flyers in a 76-69 win on Friday in the semifinal round of the Empire 8 Championship on Bobby Wanzer Court inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gym. With the win, Fisher, which moved to 21-5 on the season with the decision, advances to the conference championship at 4 p.m. on Saturday where it will face second-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology after the Ducks defeated third-seeded Utica College, 79-71, in the night's other semifinal.
Neither team was able to gain much of an advantage as the game got underway as the lead would change hands eight times before Nazareth took a three-point edge, 12-9, with nearly five minutes gone by.
Trailing by one possession, Fisher came to life as a layup from
Tyler English sparked a 14-0 run by the Cardinals, which included five baskets inside the paint, to open up a double-digit lead, 23-11, with 9:36 left to go in the half. Nazareth would cut the deficit to nine points with a pair of free throws, but Fisher pushed its lead up to as many as 15 after back-to-back 3-pointers by
Tyler Farrell and
Alex Sausville made it 33-18 with 4:22 to go.
The Golden Flyers would regroup, however, and closed out the half strong with an 8-3 run to head into the locker room trailing Fisher by nine, 39-28.
Coming out of intermission, Fisher pushed its lead to 11 points, but Nazareth countered with a 7-2 run to pull to within eight points, 35-37. Both teams exchanged blows on the offensive end of the floor before the Cardinals strung together 10 of the game's next 13 points capped by a corner 3-pointer by freshman
Sammy Robinson to take a 16-point hold, 58-42.
Over the course of the next three minutes, Nazareth chipped away and brought the deficit back to within eight only to see Fisher rattle off seven quick points of its own to reclaim a 15-point advantage. The lead seemed safe, but with just 1:43 left to go in the game, the tide began to shift as the Golden Flyers poured in nine unanswered points to make it a six-point affair. A pair of free throws by English brought Fisher's lead back up to eight, but Nazareth pushed the ball and knocked down a 3-pointer to keep within striking distance, 74-69, but that was as close as the visitors would come as English nailed another pair from the charity stripe to give Fisher the win.
Jake Haight led the way with a double-double including 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 12 rebounds. Sausville finished with 15 points while English added 14 points, four rebounds and two steals in the win. Senior
Keegan Ryan, who was recently named the Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year, contributed 11 points and five boards overall.
The Cardinals shot 29-of-60 as a team including 4-of-15 from behind the arc. Fisher out-rebounded Nazareth, 44-31.