BOX SCORE
The St. John Fisher College men's basketball won its sixth straight game and improved to 6-1 overall, as the Cardinals picked up a 63-52 win over the visiting Hawks (6-3) tonight at Fisher's Bobby Wanzer Court at Manning & Napier Varsity Gym in the Empire 8 Conference season opener for both teams.
Fisher took a 21-6 lead with just under 12 minutes left in the first half on a 3-pointer from
Isaac Aragon, but the Cardinals shot just 2-for-10 from the floor and committed nine turnovers over the rest of the first half and led by just one at 26-25 at intermission.
The Hawks took their first lead on the opening possession of the second half and went on a 6-0 run over the opening 92 seconds, pushing their lead to 31-26, but the Cardinals responded with a 12-2 spurt over the next five minutes to take the lead for good.
With 2:50 left and the shot clock running down, sophomore
Brandon Witte hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to give Fisher's its biggest of the lead of the game at 54-46.
Hartwick cut the lead down to four at 54-50 with a three-point-play from Jan Cocozziello (Westfield/Scotia Plain, NJ) with 1:59 remaining, but 12 seconds later,
Matt Newman hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key, pushing the Cardinals' lead back to seven.
Cocozziello led all scorers with 24 points and was the only player for the Hawks in double figures.
Hartwick, who entered the game shooting 47.4% from 3-point range on the year, shot just 1-for-15 from beyond the arc 6.7% tonight.
For Fisher, Newman finished with 20 points, five assists and five steals and no turnovers. Mike Wopperer finished with a career-high 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Witte scored 11 of his nine points in the second half.
Fisher will return to action at 4 p.m. tomorrow and will host Stevens Institute of Technology, while the Hawks will travel up East Avenue to play Nazareth College.
