The third-seeded St. John Fisher College men's basketball team held sixth-seeded Rochester Institute of Technology to just 15 points in the second half en route to a 70-45 victory in the first round of the Wendy's College Classic at Fisher's Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium.  With the win Fisher (2-1) moves on to the semifinals at 8 p.m. Friday at RIT when the Cardinals will take on SUNY Geneseo.  
 
Geneseo defeated Nazareth College 74-67 in the first quarterfinal matchup.  The loss marked RIT's first defeat of the year, dropping the Tigers to 5-1 on the season.
 
Fisher trailed 13-6 five minutes in but the Tigers went cold from the field, going almost 11 minutes without scoring a basket.  That allowed Fisher to go on a 17-0 run for a 23-13 lead with five minutes remaining in the half.  Fisher would not relinquish that lead for the rest of the game. 
 
Tyler English gave Fisher the 15-13 advantage off a fast break dunk, while Keegan Ryan added a pair of layups during the Cardinals' offensive flurry.
 
The Tigers were able to chip into the lead over the final five minutes of the half to cut the halftime deficit to 32-30. 
 
Fisher scored the first seven points of the second half, including an Adam Ambielli 3-pointer, to take a 39-32 advantage.
 
RIT pulled within one point, 40-39, but a Tyler Farrell traditional three-point play kept the Cardinals on top.  Although Fisher struggled all game from behind the arc, Ambielli drained a crucial 3-pointer to put Fisher up 49-41 midway through the half.
 
The Cardinals continued to pour it on offensively with Ryan powering up on a traditional three-point play to give Fisher a 56-43 advantage, which to that point was the largest lead of the game.
 
Ryan recorded his first double-double of the season on 17 points and 10 boards.   Ambielli was the second leading scorer with 14 points and three assists.  Kinard poured in 13 points and nine rebounds.