Cardinals Send Saints Marching; Fisher Moves on in NCAAs
PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's basketball advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship on Friday after defeating St. Lawrence, 77-72, in front of a packed house on Bobby Wanzer Court in Manning and Napier Varsity Gym. With the win, Fisher improved to 23-5 while the Saints had their season come to a close at 20-7.
Fisher, which has now won 11 straight games, advanced to the second round of the championship where it will face Tufts University, which defeated Salem State in its opening round contest, 84-81. The game will begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday on Bobby Wanzer Court.
The Cardinals' bench was the driving force all night with 39 of the team's 77 total points. Freshman
Sammy Robinson led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting.
Michael D'Amico added 12 in the win while
Daniel Morales finished with four points and five rebounds. Senior
Keegan Ryan, the Empire 8's Offensive Player of the Year, notched his 42nd career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Ryan Henderson chipped in with 11 points.
After falling behind by as many as 12 in the first half, Fisher would come to within four points after a pair of free throws by Ryan made it 36-32, but St. Lawrence would notch a jumper from the wing in the half's closing seconds to take a six-point lead into halftime, 38-32.
Coming out of the break, Fisher continued to play from behind as the two teams swapped points over the first eight minutes of the second stanza. Trailing by six points, 49-43, with just over 12 minutes left to play, Fisher reeled off seven unanswered points sparked by an old-fashioned 3-point play by D'Amico to pull ahead for the first time since the 10:40 mark of the first half, 50-49.
The lead was short-lived for Fisher, though as St. Lawrence quickly scored on the other end of the floor to grab a one-point edge of its own. The lead would swap hands six more times over the next five minutes until a pair of free throws by Robinson started a modest 6-0 Cardinals' run to put Fisher ahead with 6:15 still remaining on the clock. Leading by five, 62-57, the Saints would make it a one-possession game with a jumper in the paint, but back-to-back layups by Ryan and Robinson pushed Fisher's edge to seven points with under four minutes to go. As had been the case for most of the half, however, the momentum shifted again as St. Lawrence battled back to tie the game at 69-69.
With 30 seconds to play and the ball, Fisher broke the Saints' press and found a lane before St. Lawrence fouled sending
Tyler English to the line. The junior guard knocked down 1-of-2 attempts but Ryan gave Fisher another chance with an offensive rebound. After being fouled, Ryan sank one of his two free throws to put Fisher up by a pair. St. Lawrence inbounded the ball on the ensuing possession only to see
Jordan Gilman pick off the pass to all but seal the win for Fisher. St. Lawrence resorted to fouling to conserve time, but the Cardinals were up to the task, shooting 6-for-6 over the final 16 seconds to earn their 23rd win of the season.
Head coach
Rob Kornaker's squad shook off a slow start and finished the game shooting 26-of-59 (.441) from the field. The Cardinals were 19-of-27 from the charity stripe and forced the Saints into 14 turnovers.