The St. John Fisher College men's basketball program took the first step in successfully-defending its Empire 8 Conference title, as the Cardinals came away with a 71-58 win at Elmira College in the Empire 8 season-opener for both squads on Friday night.

With the win, Fisher improves to 7-3 overall and 1-0 in the Empire 8.

All-American junior Keegan Ryan led the Cardinals with 26 points and 14 rebounds, marking his 21^st career double-double and his fifth of the season.   The 26 points tied his career high.  

Senior Chaz Lott scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half. Sophomore Alex Sausville scored all eight of his points in the first half, while classmate Tyler Farrell also chipped in with eight points.

Elmira took its second and final lead of the game at 10-8 just five minutes into the game, but Fisher responded with a 10-0 run to take the lead for good, sparked by back-to-back 3-point-plays from Sausville. 

Fisher closed out the first half with a 5-0 spurt to grab a 35-28 at the half and took command in the opening moments of the second half, rattling off a 10-0 run and gaining a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.

Fisher returns to action at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Houghton College.  The Highlanders lost 98-93 on Friday to Ithaca College.