The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team defeated host Utica College 68-47 in both teams' conference-opener on Friday night. Fisher has now won six straight games to improve to 8-2 overall.

The Cardinals took an early 10-0 lead in the first four minutes with help from Optimystik Kinard, who tallied four points and two steals in that span. Utica's Conor Maisch snapped Fisher's run with two free throws after a Stefan Bock foul.

The Cardinals soon saw another double-digit lead when Tyler Hart netted a 3-pointer to make it 23-11 with 11 minutes left in the opening half. Fisher continued to add to its lead through the end of the first half, when the Cardinals led 41-23. Keegan Ryan shot 4-for-4 with nine boards in the first half to guide Fisher.

Utica took off at the start of the second half and started closing in on the Cardinals' lead. The Pioneers held the Cardinals to eight points in the first 10 minutes of the half.

The Cardinals stepped up their game to secure the victory. KInard and Tyler Hart each netted a 3-pointer and Chaz Lott recorded a steal with two consecutive layups to put Fisher up 64-41 with five minutes left. Fisher held onto their lead until the final buzzer.

Four Cardinals recorded double-digit points with Ryan recording a team-best 16 points and 14 boards. Lott, Kinard and Hart added 11 points apiece.

Fisher remains on the road, facing Elmira College at 4 p.m. Saturday in another Empire 8 matchup.