BOX SCORE

After leading by as many as 12 in the first half, the St. John Fisher College men's basketball team let its lead slip away, and suffered a 75-66 loss to No. 9 Ithaca College on Tuesday night at Fisher's Manning & Napier Varsity Gym.

With its third consecutive loss, the Cardinals are now 14-5 overall, 6-4 in the Empire 8 Conference.

 

Fisher built its lead up to 12 in the first half, 35-23, but the Bombers rallied for a 15-3 run over the final 4:28 of the opening half to tie the score at 38 going into the locker room.

 

The two squads continued to battle back-and-forth to open the second half, with neither team holding a lead larger than four points until late in the game.

 

After a Jordan Gettings jumper with 5:39 to play gave the Cardinals a slim lead, 59-58, the Bombers reclaimed the lead for good on their next possession. Ithaca answered with a quick 5-0 run, including a three-pointer from All-American guard Sean Burton to take control, 63-59. 

Matt Newman, who tied a career-high with 22 points, brought the Cardinals back to within three with a pair of free throws, but Burton came through with two assists and a steal down the stretch, as the Bombers lead grew to eight points (70-62), on a traditional three-point play with just 1:12 left.

 

Ithaca sealed the win from the line, closing the game on a 10-4 run, and shot 85.0% (17-of-20) from the stripe for the game.

 

Fisher held  Burton to just seven points in the first half, including four free throws during the Bomber's late first-half run. Ithaca, ranked ninth nationally, shot a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe in the first 20 minutes, while the Cardinals were just 5-for-11.

Newman's 22 points, eight rebounds and four blocks led the team, while Ozell Franklin and Gettings each added 12.

Fisher will take on host Nazareth College at 4 p.m. on Saturday.