English Surpasses 1,000 Career Points
HOUGHTON, N.Y. – Tyler English became the 23rd player in St. John Fisher College men's basketball history to surpass 1,000 career points on Tuesday as the Cardinals snapped a four-game skid with a 88-52 win over Houghton College in an Empire 8 tilt inside Nielsen Gymnasium. With the win, Fisher improved to 9-8 overall and evened its conference mark at 4-4 while the Highlanders, who have now suffered 14 straight defeats, fell to 3-15 and 0-9, respectively.
English, who made history with a free throw at the 2:08 mark of the first half, joined a select club after finishing with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor. The Lockport native also contributed five assists and four rebounds in the win.
Sammy Robinson added a team-high 14 points while
Michael D'Amico poured in three from behind the arc to chip in a season-high 13 points.
Ryan Henderson was one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine boards while
Dennis Hare had 10 points of his own.
Jake Haight notched seven points, six rebounds and a game-high three steals in all.
As a team, Fisher was 35-for-67 (.522) from the floor including seven from downtown. The team also converted 11 of its 15 free throw attempts. On the defensive end of the hardwood, Fisher limited the Highlanders to just 17 made fields (.327) and forced 22 turnovers.
The Cardinals were lights out to begin the game as head coach
Mike Grosodonia II's squad scored 11 straight points and opened up a 19-4 lead after nine minutes of play. After a basket by Houghton temporarily slowed the Cardinals' progress, the lead would balloon to 26 points when D'Amico and Henderson knocked down 3-pointers on three straight possessions.
As the first half continued, Houghton would make it an 18-point game after reeling off a 9-1 run, but the Cardinals closed out the half with a 9-2 run of their own to head into the break with a 25-point cushion.
Fisher's rhythm continued as the second got underway with D'Amico scoring five straight points as Fisher's advantage grew to 31 after scoring nine of the stanza's first 12 points.
The Cardinals would lead by as many as 37 points in the second half after a layup from Henderson made it 72-35. Houghton would eventually get the margin down to 27, but that was as close as it would come with Fisher coming away with the 36-point decision.