Michael Wopperer's turnaround jump shot with 49 seconds remaining was just enough to lift the St. John Fisher College men's basketball team to a 76-71 victory in the finals of the 43rd annual JPMorgan Chase Scholarship Tournament hosted by Rochester Institute of Technology.

 

Fisher led by as many as 13 points in the second half, but Nazareth refused to give in, and tied the game three times in the final four minutes.

 

With the Cardinals up by seven (60-53), Nazareth's Corey McAdam and Jordan Major trimmed the lead down to just two with a traditional three-point play and layup on back-to-back Nazareth possessions with 5:46 remaining.

 

Fisher built its lead back up to six, 64-58, on a pair of free throws and another layup from Wopperer, but a 6-0 Nazareth run in response tied the game at 64 with 3:09 to play.

 

McAdam knotted the score for the Golden Flyers at 67 when he hit a free throw, but a foul-line jumper from sophomore Brandon Witte gave Fisher a two-point advantage with under 90 seconds left. McAdam, who scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, again brought Nazareth back even again when he drained a pair of free throws after drawing a foul driving to the basket, but Witte found Wopperer for the game-clinching jumper on Fisher's next possession.

 

Witte got his team going in the first half, recording Fisher's initial points of the game on a two-handed alley-oop dunk from guard Matt Newman, who was named the Chase Tournament's Most Valuable Player.

 

After Witte's dunk, Nazareth and Fisher exchanged the lead several times before the Cardinals took control with eight unanswered points over 4:27 to set the score at 17-10 with 11:03 left.

 

Four minutes later, the Golden Flyers battled back and reclaimed the lead (24-23) for the first time since early on with a 3-pointer from guard Jason Corletta.

 

The Cardinals continued to distribute the ball, ending the half on a 13-4 run that saw Newman and Witte each score four points. Fisher committed just one turnover in the opening 20 minutes, and used a balanced offense (four players with at least six points) to build a 40-31 lead at the break.

 

The first place finish in the Chase tournament marks Fisher's ninth overall and the team's first since the 2005-06 season.

 

Newman, who recorded 17 points, six rebounds and five assists in the final game, was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player, while Jordan Gettings was named to the All-Tournament First Team after contributing 12 points. Wopperer posted 10 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore Ozell Franklin finished with 10 points and six rebounds.

 

Fisher (12-2) will resume its Empire 8 schedule on Friday when the Cardinals take on host Alfred University.