The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College men's basketball team will host the Empire 8 Conference Men's Basketball Championship this weekend. 

The top-seeded Cardinals (21-4 overall, 14-2 Empire 8) will host No. 4 Ithaca College (12-13, 9-7) at 6 p.m. Friday in the first semifinal matchup, while No. 2 Alfred University (18-7, 11-5) and No. 3 Hartwick College (15-10, 10-6) will square off at 8 p.m.

The two winners will play at 4 p.m. Saturday in the title game with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.

Tickets for each day's games are $5 for adults and $3 for students, while children 12 and under will be admitted free of charge. More information regarding the tournament can be found here.

Fisher, winners of 12 straight at home, will be looking to win its fifth Empire 8 title, and its first since the 2006-2007 season. The Cardinals, ranked 24^th nationally, are 11-4 all-time in Empire 8 Championship action, including a 9-1 mark in games played at Manning & Napier Varsity Gym.   Fisher is 7-1 all-time in semifinal games, including a 4-1 mark against the Bombers.

This season marks the 15th time in the program's 52-year history the Cardinals have won 20 or more games in a season. The Cardinals lead the Empire 8 Conference in scoring defense (61.2 points per game), while averaging 77.4 points per game in scoring offense, good for second in the conference.

Three players are currently averaging in double-digit scoring, including: sophomore Keegan Ryan (16.2), senior Optimystik Kinard (10.2) and junior Tyler Hart (10.0). Junior guard Chaz Lott leads the Empire 8 in assists with 5.7 per game.

Fisher Athletics will provide live stats, live video and more via its website, social media and SMS text message alerts. Find the Cardinals online, on Twitter (@FisherAthletics), Facebook (Fisher Fanatics), Facebook Pages (Fisher Athletics) and Instagram (@FisherAthletics).