The St. John Fisher College men’s basketball team topped Empire 8 Conference opponent Alfred University 58-54 on Tuesday night, improving to 10-7 overall, 5-2 in the Empire 8, and extending its win streak to four games.

 

The visiting Saxons cut the Cardinals lead to just three points with five seconds remaining on a deep 3-pointer, but the Cardinals sealed the victory with a critical free throw from sophomore Matt Newman (Campbell-Savona/Campbell) with four seconds remaining.

 

Fisher trailed by as many as nine points (24-15) early on in the opening half, but used an 18-7 run over the final 10:57 of the first period to set the halftime score at 33-31 in favor of the Cardinals.

 

Fisher maintained a single-digit lead for the remainder of the contest, pushing its lead to nine points on a pair of free throws from forward Isaiah Smalt (Campbell Savona/Savona) with just over four minutes to play.

 

With just 1:33 remaining, the hard-charging Saxons hit three consecutive three pointers to trim the lead before the Cardinals put the game out of reach.

 

Senior Justin Beigel (Colerain/Cincinnati, OH) led the way for Fisher, scoring a game-high 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds, with Newman adding eight points, five rebounds and five assists. 

 

Brandon Witte (C.W. Baker/ Baldwinsville) notched nine points and five boards, while Mark Bearden (Aquinas/Rochester) (six rebounds), Smalt (eight rebounds), and Mike Wopperer (St. Joseph’s/East Amherst) (four rebounds) recorded six points apiece.