BOX SCORE

The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team dropped a 66-63 contest to Baruch College in the first round of the Woodcliff Hotel & Spa Tournament held on the Cardinals' campus Saturday night in Manning & Napier Varsity Gymnasium. With the loss, Fisher falls to 6-4 on the season while the Bearcats improved to 7-3.

Baruch will face Clarkson University in the championship game of the tournament tomorrow at 3 p.m. while the Cardinals will face Juniata College at 1 p.m. in the consolation round.

Fisher trailed 62-59 with under five minutes to play when Chaz Lott created a spark for the Cardinals, stealing a pass and going coast-to-coast for a layup, cutting the lead to just a point with 3:40 remaining. That layup, however, would be the beginning of a 3:37 drought for Fisher, with its only points coming from Jason Norsen's lay-in with three second left.

The Cardinals' last lead of the game came after an Adam Ambielli jumper with 9:45 on the clock to put Fisher up 55-53.

Norsen, despite the loss, did much of the same he has all season, having the game-high in points (19), rebounds (9) and blocks (6). The senior shot 8-for-12 (75%) from the field, which is better than his season percentage of 69% that currently ranks fifth in the country. Norsen also ranks first in the nation in blocked shots per game, averaging 3.67, which he eclipsed in the loss to Baruch with six rejections.

Fisher struggled from the field as a team, shooting just 22-for-61 (36.1%) from the floor and 4-for-26 (15.4%) from beyond the arc.

In the first half, the teams traded baskets for most of the opening minutes until Fisher broke away with a 10-0 run over 2:29 to take a 29-18 advantage. Baruch would not be stifled, however, using two 3-point plays and two free throws after a Cardinal technical foul, cutting the lead to one at 33-32 with 2:27 remaining in the period.

Norsen led the way in the opening stanza for Fisher, scoring a team-best 10 points along with five rebounds and five blocked shots.

Lott finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists while Justin Plata added 10 points and six boards for the Cardinals.