BOX SCORE

The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team finished in third place of the Woodcliff Hotel & Spa Tournament with a 65-54 win over Juniata College on Sunday afternoon in Manning & Napier Varsity Gymnasium. With the victory, Fisher improves to 7-4 on the season while Juniata falls to 8-4.

After shooting 61.9% (13-for-21) in the first half, Fisher slowed in the second half shooting just 22.7% (5-for-22) from the floor. The Cardinals, however, made the most of its free opportunities, going 23-for-26 (88.5%) from the charity stripe.

Fisher's most impressive stretch in the second half was with a six-point lead with 2:07 left to play. Coach Rob Kornaker called a timeout with the Cardinals holding possession with a 57-51 advantage. After running the shot clock down, Justin Plata grabbed an offensive board and Fisher reset its offense. Once again the Cardinals ran the clock down before Jason Norsen grabbed one of his 12 rebounds off the offensive glass. This led to Optimystik Kinard being fouled after a possession that lasted 1:06.

Defensively, Fisher held Juniata to just seven points in the final 7:16 of regulation, including just one field goal that came with only 40 seconds remaining in the game.

Norsen led the team with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 7 blocked shots. The double-double was the senior's third of the 2012-13 campaign.

Kinard also finished with a double-double, his first of the year, scoring 10 points while corralling 10 boards.

Thad Wier finished with the second-most points for the Cardinals, cashing in 14 points after a hot first half.

The first half featured back-and-forth action, as the two teams provided nine lead changes and three ties in the opening period. Fisher started off slow, as Juniata started on a 6-0 run due to the Cardinals turning over the ball four times with only one shot attempt.

Fisher quickly righted the ship due to the sharp shooting of Wier, who made his first four shots including two 3-pointers, and Adam Ambielli who went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc in the first period and led the Cardinals with 11 opening half points. Norsen did his usual by filling the stat sheet, contributing eight points, grabbing five rebounds and swatting four shots in the first half.

The effort by Fisher sent the team to the locker room holding a six-point advantage, leading the Eagles 35-29.

Fisher will return to action at 8 p.m. on Friday night when it opens Empire 8 Conference play with a game on the road at Utica College.