Alfred and St. John Fisher Take Very Different Paths to Meet in Saturday's E8 Men's Basketball Title Game
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
Alfred Impresses in their Win, while St. John Fisher Wins Classic Semifinal Tilt
Top-seeded Alfred will take on third-seeded St. John Fisher in the 2019 Empire 8 Conference Men's Basketball Championship game. The title game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. tip and will take place on the campus of Alfred University. Friday's semifinal games were very different and here's how the two games went down
#1 Alfred 80, #4 Stevens 57
Alfred kept rolling on Friday evening with an E8 semifinal win on its own court. The Saxons - 22-4 - defeated Stevens by a score of 80-57 to advance to tomorrow's championship game. The win gives them their second birth in the E8 title game.
Alfred's
Sage Brown was spectacular on both ends for the Saxons, notching a team high 19 points and grabbing a career best 18 boards on the night.
Scotty Stopera finished with 15 points and five assists.
Cole Eells had 14 points and two steals while
Dom LeMorta scored 13.
Brewster Marshall also recorded a double double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Kevin Florio led Stevens with 15.
Alfred and Fisher have already faced off twice this season with the Saxons coming out on top in each of those games. The matchup will seem familiar to many Saxon Fans, as the Cardinals were Alfred's opponents in the 2015 Empire 8 Championship game which the Cardinals won 77-62.
#3 St. John Fisher 98, #2 Nazareth 90, OT
James Leone finished with a career-high 33 points and a double-double while
Sammy Robinson and
Ryan Henderson combined for 39 points as third-seeded St. John Fisher College upended second-seeded Nazareth, 98-90, in overtime on Friday in the Empire 8 Championship semifinals. With the win, Fisher improved to 18-8 on the season and will advance to face top-seeded Alfred at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday for the Empire 8 title. The winner of that game will also earn the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship.
Leone was 11-for-20 on the night and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. The junior guard also contributed 11 boards and four assists in the win. Henderson, who was named the E8 Player of the Year on Thursday, netted 22 points and six rebounds while Robinson posted 17 points, eight boards and a game-high five assists. The junior forward currently needs just 22 points to surpass 1,000 for his career.
Brendan Wind led five Nazareth players in double figures with 24 in the loss.
After calling a timeout late in regulation, the Golden Flyers worked the ball inside and were able to hit a short jumper as time expired to knot the game up at 79-79 at the end of regulation.
With overtime underway, Fisher went to work inside as Leone found Henderson on the block to make it an 81-79 affair. After forcing a contested jumper on the other end of the floor, Fisher hurried its pace as Leone rose up and dunked it home to spark an 8-1 run that opened up a seven-point lead, 87-80, with 2:13 still showing on the clock.
From there, Nazareth would come to within five points, but was never able to come up with a stop on the defensive end of the floor as Fisher closed out the overtime period with nine points at the free throw line to seal the win.
Friday, February 22
Semifinal #1
No. 1 Alfred 80, #4 Stevens 57
Semifinal #2
No. 3 St. John Fisher 98, No. 2 Nazareth 90, OT
Saturday, February 23
Empire 8 Championship - 3:30 p.m.
No. 1 Alfred vs. No. 3 St. John Fisher
- Information for this release provided by the athletic communication staffs at Alfred and St. John Fisher -
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com and
https://youtu.be/wzL4HcDoUUQ