Box Score
The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team came back from 11 points down in the second half to defeat host SUNY Geneseo 87-79 in the first round of the Wendy's College Classic Wednesday night. It was Fisher's first game on the hardwood since November 23rd.
With the win the fifth-seeded Cardinals (2-1) move on to the semifinal game at 6 p.m on Friday at Roberts Wesleyan College where they will take on top-seeded SUNY Brockport.
Geneseo built its largest lead of the game 54-43 at the 14:37 mark of the second half, but Fisher used a 12-0 run with Keegan Ryan scoring six of the Cardinals points to take a 55-54 lead midway through the half.
The Cardinals and Knights would trade baskets over the next six minutes. Tyler Hart converted a three-point-play to give Fisher a 71-69 advantage with under four minutes to play and Cardinals would not relinquish the lead again.
Geneseo cut the deficit to three points, 75-72, but Adam Ambielli, who made several key shots througout the contest, drained a 3-pointer from the corner to push Fisher's lead to 78-72. That basketball propelled Fisher on a 12-7 run to close out the game.
In the first half, the Knights built a 10-5 lead just over five minutes into the contest, but following a Chaz Lott field goal neither team would hold more than a five-point advantage the rest of the half.
Trailing 21-19 Hart knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Cardinals a one point lead with 7:13 remaining in the half. However Geneseo would regain the lead shortly after and took a 38-33 lead into the break.
Ambielli had a game-high 21 points, including 4-of-5 from downtown. Stefan Bock scored 18 points, while Ryan enjoyed a solid outing scoring 16 points and pulling down seven rebounds.
