The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team went on an 11-2 run over the final 4:07 and rallied to beat visiting Brooklyn College 60-56 in the First Round of the NCAA Division III Championship.
With the win, Fisher advances to the Second Round and will host Brandeis University at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The Judges defeated St. Lawrence University 76-64 earlier in the evening.
Brooklyn (22-7), who had won 17 of its last 18 games, led 54-49 with 4:27 left after two free throws from Daniel Nisbett.
The Cardinals (23-5), however, knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers – the first from
Jordan Koch and the second from
Connor Henderson with 3:22 left – giving the Cardinals a 55-54 advantage.
Koch pushed Fisher's lead to 58-54 with 1:47 left with another three points, this one coming on a traditional 3-point-play.
Nisbett pulled the Bulldogs within two points at 58-56 with 56 seconds with two free throws, but the Cardinals sealed the win with two free throws from
Matt Newman with 15.1 seconds left. The Bulldogs failed to get off a legitimate shot in their final possession.
Koch led the Cardinals with 22 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Newman added 14 points and eight rebounds, while Michael Wopperer added 10 points.
For Brooklyn, Rich Jean-Baptiste led his team with 14 points, while Nisbett added 13 points.
Fisher finished the game with a 44-29 advantage on the glass. The Cardinals shot just 4-for-16 (25%) from 3-point range for the game.
Brooklyn led 29-28 at intermission after the Cardinals committed 13 of their 17 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
