Box Score
 
The No. 3 St. John Fisher College men's basketball team was knocked from Empire 8 title contention by No. 2 Ithaca on Friday night, as the Bombers took down the Cardinals 70-63 at Stevens Institute of Technology.
 
The loss snaps an eight-game win streak for the Cardinals, and also marks the first time Fisher has lost in the Empire 8 semifinals.  The Cardinals previously held a 7-0 record in first round action.  They finish the year 17-9 overall and 9-4 against conference opponents.  Ithaca will advance to play the No. 1 seeded Ducks on Saturday afternoon for the Empire 8 Championship.
 
The two teams met twice previously this year, with Ithaca taking both. However, those games were only decided by a combined five-points, and Friday's affair was no different.  The seven-point contest was tight throughout, with Ithaca seeing its largest lead of 11 points in the second half. 
 
The Cardinals held the advantage at the break, at 31-30, but the Bombers opened the second stanza with a 10-1 run to put Fisher in a hole it would not be able to overcome.  Fisher led by as many as nine points in the game, up 22-13 midway through the first half.
 
In the second half, Ithaca was able to keep the Cardinals at arm's length.  Following the Bombers' hot start to the half, Fisher was only able to get within six points, but could never regain the lead.
 
After a first half that saw a balanced stat line, the Bombers had a sizeable advantage in the second half in free throws, shooting 13 compared to the Cardinals' four attempts.  Fisher controlled the boards in that half, 21-11, but lost the turnover margin 11-4.
 
Justin Plata and Thad Wier set the tone early for their team, as the two combined for the Cardinals' first 20 points.  They would go on to finish first and second in scoring, as Plata ended his final game with 20 points and was just one rebound shy of the double-double, grabbing nine boards.  Wier finished with 17 points, including a 5-for-10 showing from beyond the arc.

Plata was named to the Championship's All-Tournament Team.
 
Chaz Lott finished the game with 12 points, as Fisher's only other scorer to score in double-digits.
 
Jason Norsen sees his career come to an end at Fisher with an eight point, five rebound performance.  The Hamburg native finishes his four-year career as the 20th Cardinal to score 1,000 points, racking up 1,083 points in 95 appearances in the cardinal and gold.  Norsen also finishes as the College's all-time leader in blocks (221) and field goal percentage, shooting 61.9% in his career.