After earning wins in the first two meetings of the season, including a win in the finals of the Chase Tournament, the St. John Fisher College men's basketball team was defeated 79-70 by East Avenue-rival Nazareth College on Saturday at Kidera Gymnasium. 

The loss, Fisher's fourth consecutive setback, places the Cardinals in a three-way tie with Nazareth and Utica for third place in the Empire 8 Conference standings.

 

Nazareth, who led by just three at the half, pushed its lead to 12 points, 52-40, six minutes into the final period. Over the next 5:17, Fisher worked its offense, and got back into the game with 11 unanswered points. Freshman guard Jordan Gettings scored five points of his seven points during the span. 

 

Two minutes later, after Matt Newman, who led the Cardinals with 21 points, drove to the basket, freshman Trevor Stearns converted a layup after an offensive rebound that tied the game at 55 with 7:14 remaining. Stearns tied the game again at 59 with a foul-line jumper, but Nazareth's Corey McAdam gave the Golden Flyers a 3-point lead with a spot-up triple on the Golden Flyer's next possession.

 

McAdam gave Nazareth a seven-point lead, 68-61, following two made free throws with just over three minutes to play. Although the Cardinals pulled to within two (68-66) after a traditional three-point play from Connor Henderson and layup from Gettings, another Nazareth three pointer sealed the Cardinals' fate. The Golden Flyers, who dominated the Cardinals on the glass with a 48-28 rebounding advantage, hit all six of their free throw attemps in the final 79 seconds to ice the victory.

 

In the first half, Ozell Franklin gave Fisher its first lead since the opening minutes of the game, 12-11. Nazareth regained the momentum, however, with an 11-4 run that included a traditional 3-point play from forward Jake Fladd. The run gave the host Golden Flyers a 22-16 lead at the 10:14 mark of the first half.

 

Over the next four minutes however, Fisher scored 13 of the game's next 15 points to take a five-point lead, 29-24. A pair of deep 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions by Newman and Henderson gave Fisher the momentum with seven minutes left. With the Cardinals still up by four two minutes later Nazareth forward Ryan McAdam sparked a 10-3 run, with a jumper and triple that gave his squad a 37-34 lead at the intermission.

 

Newman paced the Cardinals with 21 points and six rebounds, with Henderson (13 points), and Stearns (10 points) also scoring in double figures for Fisher.

 

With the loss, the Cardinals, Nazareth and Utica are tied for third place with 6-5 records in-conference(Empire 8 Tie-Breaker Info pdf). Fisher (14-6 overall, 6-5 Empire 8) will return to action at 8 p.m. on Tuesday against Empire 8-leading Rochester Institute of Technology. At season's end, the top four teams will advance to the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament.