BOX SCORE

The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team advanced to the semifinal of the 47th Annual Wendy's College Classic with an 85-72 win over visiting College at Brockport on Wednesday night at Fisher's Varsity Gym.

With the win, Fisher will be playing in the semifinals of the Wendy's College Classic for a record-setting 37th time and will face nationally-ranked University of Rochester at 8 p.m. on Friday on the Yellowjackets' home court.

It was a back-and-forth game throughout the night.

Fisher opened the game with a 6-0 run over the opening four minutes, but Brockport regained the lead at 10-8 with 12:11 left in the first half.   The Cardinals regained the lead and used a 12-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Thad Wier to take a 26-15 advantage.   Fisher would push its lead to 15 at 33-18 with just over three minutes left to go, but the Golden Eagles ended the half with a 16-3 run and drained a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the second half to take a 37-36 advantage just 10 seconds into the final frame.

Brockport led by as many as five points at 45-40 after a four-point-play from Jordan Majors, but Fisher chipped away at the lead.  Jason Norsen's layup with 15:05 left made it 51-49 Fisher advantage and started an 11-1 run, ended by a 3-pointer from Adam Ambielli, giving the Cardinals a 60-50 lead with just over 12 minutes left.

The Golden Eagles pulled to within seven at 68-61 with seven minutes left, but the Cardinals sealed the win with an 11-2 spurt over the next three minutes.
Fisher is off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2004-2005.  That year, Fisher was the last undefeated team in all of college basketball – men's or women's – Division I, II or III – and finished the season with a College-record 28 victories.   Each of the last seven times the Cardinals have started the season off 3-0, they have advanced to the NCAA Division III Championship.

Five players finished in double figures for Fisher, led by Justin Plata, who tied his career-high with 23 points.   Ambielli finished with 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting and three steals, while Thad Wier added 13 points.  

Jason Norsen finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds, marking his eighth career double-double.  The senior also blocked six shots.

Junior transfer Matthew Cooney came off the bench and chipped in with 10 points and four assists, including an 8-for-8 performance at the charity stripe.

Freshman starting point guard Chaz Lott finished with five boards, four points and four assists.