UTICA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team extended its winning streak to four games as the Cardinals withstood a late push by the Utica College Pioneers in a 72-68 road victory.  With the win, the Cardinals improved to 9-4 overall and remained unbeaten in Empire 8 play at 4-0.  Utica fell to 3-12 on the season and 3-3 in the conference standings.

Keegan Ryan led all scorers with 22 points to go along with eight rebounds.  Tyler English finished with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting while Michael D'Amico added 14 points and three assists in the win.  Alex Sausville contributed 10 points and two boards for Fisher and Jake Haight pulled down five rebounds in all.

After leading by seven points at the break, 35-28, the Cardinals would push their advantage to double-digits to start the second half following back-to-back lay-ups from Ryan and English to make it 39-28, but Fisher's offense would stall as a 3-pointer by D'Amico with 14:09 left to play marked the last points Fisher would score until 8:04 when the senior guard drained another three – a span of 6:05.

The Pioneers, meanwhile, continued to battle and made it a one possession game after knocking down back-to-back shots from beyond the arc to bring the score to 50-47 with just under seven minutes still showing on the clock.

Both teams would swap baskets over the next 90 seconds before Ryan and the Cardinals stole the momentum back with an old-fashioned 3-point play to stake Fisher to a six-point lead, 56-50.  Ryan would strike again with 2:44 left to play as the Plattsburgh native buried a jumper and converted the ensuing free throw to put the visitors up by seven, 63-56, but the advantage was short-lived as the Pioneers orchestrated a 7-2 run over the next two minutes to come to within two points. 

With 36 seconds to go before the final horn, Utica resorted to fouling in an effort to stop the clock, but Fisher converted 7-of-8 from the charity stripe down the stretch including 4-for-4 by D'Amico to seal the win.

The Cardinals shot 22-of-54 (.407) from the floor as a team and were 23-for-34 from the free throw line.  They controlled the glass and outrebounded the Pioneers, 38-32, and forced Utica into 11 turnovers.

Fisher will look to continue its winning ways when it squares off with Hartwick at 8 p.m. on Friday in an Empire 8 pairing on Bobby Wanzer Court inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gym.