The St. John Fisher College men's basketball program advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Championship on Saturday, as the Cardinals came away with an 87-70 win over Amherst College at Fisher's Manning & Napier Varsity Gym.

With the win, Fisher, ranked 20^th nationally, improves to 25-4 overall and will now play Randolph-Macon College (27-2), the nation's No. 1 ranked team, Friday in the Sweet 16.  Site and game-time will be announced either on Sunday or Monday.

With the loss, Amherst finishes the season with a 21-8 overall record. The Lord Jeffs were looking to make their third straight appearance in the Final Four.

Fisher's 25 victories marks the third-highest win-total in a season in the program's 52-year history.  It will be Fisher's fourth appearance in the Sweet 16 in the last 11 years.

The Cardinals continued their torrid shooting clip, going 9-of-15 (60.0%) from 3-point range and 28-for-53 (52.8%) from the floor. In Friday's win over WPI, Fisher shot an amazing 13-of-17 from 3-point range (76.5%).
 
Senior Optimystik Kinard scored a season-high 22 points for the second straight night, while classmate Stefan Bock totaled 21 points and a team-high four steals.
 
Senior Adam Ambielli added 13 points, including three 3-pointers, while Tyler Hart came off the bench and also scored 13.

Point guard Chaz Lott totaled eight points and team-high nine assists, while Keegan Ryan chipped in with seven points and team-high six boards.

Amherst used an 8-0 run to take a 13-7 lead four minutes into the game. The Cardinals, however, stormed back with a 21-5 run over the next nine minutes to give Fisher a double-digit lead at 29-18 with 7:44 left.  

Fisher scored the first 10 points during the run with the first seven coming from Kinard, followed by a 3-pointer from Zach Ottaway.

The Cardinals would take a 47-34 lead going into the half. Fisher shot 50% from the floor in the first half, including 8-of-13 (61.5%) from 3-point range.

Fisher would take its biggest lead of the day at 22 points on a layup from Tyler Hart with 12:50 left, making it 65-43.

The Jeffs would rally, using a 12-2 run to pull with 10 points at 71-61 with just under six minutes left, but Fisher would next relinquish its double-digit lead.

The Cardinals sealed the win at the charity stripe, going 22-for-23 from the foul line for the game, including 8-for-8 in the final two minutes.