The St. John Fisher College Cardinals suffered a 76-62 loss to host Utica College on Friday night, and fell to 14-10 overall 10-5 in the Empire 8 on the season.

With the loss, the Cardinals, who were locked up in a three-way tie for second place in the Empire 8 Conference standings, dropped to fourth in the standings, and will need a win over the Hartwick College Hawks to stay ahead of the surging Pioneers, who have now won six out of their last seven games.

The Pioneers led the game from start to finish, building an eight-point cushion at the 13:00 minute mark before the visiting Cardinals cut the lead to four (30-26) at the half.  The Pioneers maintained control of the game in the final 20 minutes, and sealed the win with 13 free throws in the final 1:38 of action.  The Cardinals shot just 11.1% (2-of-18) from 3-point range for the game, while Utica shot 47.4% (9-of-19) from deep, and committed just 10 turnovers. 

Justin Beigel (Colerain/Cincinnati, OH) led the Cardinals with a team-high 18 points, and also hauled in eight boards, while center Isaiah Smalt (Campbell-Savona/Savona) scored 15 points and totaled nine rebounds.  Sophomore Chris Baltz (Vestal/Vestal) contributed 13 points for the Cardinals.

Fisher will face off against Hartwick at 4 p.m. tomorrow.