The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team defeated visiting Utica College 78-73 in overtime on Saturday to win the Empire 8 Conference Championship for the fourth straight year.  Dan Mueller scored 26 points, while Justin Beigel added 16 points for the Cardinals, who will now play in the NCAA Division III Championship for the 13th time in the last 16 years.  The Cardinals will find out on Monday who and when they will play next.

Fisher, who led 26-21 at intermission, opened up the second half shooting 4-for-4 from 3-point range, including three from Mueller, and led by 11 with 16:37 left.  Utica battled back and took its first lead since the opening moments with a free throw with 3:19 left from Ray Bryant. 

Freshman Matt Newman made his first 3-pointer of the day on the ensuing possession, to give the Cardinals a two-point lead at 64-62 with 2:27 left, but Utica's Jack Lighthall tied the game moments later with a baseline jumper.

Fisher regained the lead with 1:10 left. Beigel missed a pair of free throws, but grabbed his own rebound and scored on a layup to give Fisher a 66-64 lead.  Bryant made two free throws with 45 seconds to tie the game and both Fisher and Utica failed to score in their final possessions.

In overtime, Beigel drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key just 10 seconds into the extra period, and the Cardinals never trailed, improving to 17-1 in overtime games over the last 10 years.

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