The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team dropped a 68-64 decision to visiting Hartwick College on Friday night at Fisher's Bobby Wanzer Court.
With the loss, Fisher falls to 12-8 overall and 8-3 in the Empire 8 Conference. Hartwick is 12-6, 7-2.
Fisher led by as many as 17 in the first half.
Brent Harder's two free throws with 3:17 left in the opening period gave the Cardinals a 40-23 lead, but Hartwick scored the final seven points and trailed by just 10 at intermission.
In the second half, Hartwick chipped away at the Fisher-lead and took its first lead since the opening moments on a 15-foot baseline-jumper from Chris Ryder with 9:31, making it 52-51. Fisher scored the next seven points to take a 58-52 lead with 7:20 remaining.
Hartwick came right back though and took a 63-60 lead with 2:42 left on a tip-in by Anthony Keane.
Harder made it 62-63 with two free throws with 1:48 left and
Will Cornett gave Fisher the 64-63 advantage on the ensuing possession with a driving layup with 1:16 remaining.
Hartwick took the lead for good with 41 seconds remaining. After Mark Blazek missed a 3-pointer, Jared Suderley, who finished with 22 points, snagged the offensive rebound and converted the 10-foot jumper.
Fisher turned the ball over on its next possession and a 3-pointer by
Jordan Koch with nine seconds left that would have tied the game, clanked off the front of the iron.
Fisher will return to action at 4 p.m. on Saturday and will host Stevens Institute of Technology.
