GENEVA, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College men's basketball team had its comeback bid fall short in its season-opener as the Cardinals, who are ranked 19th in the latest D3hoops.com national poll, fell to Hobart College, 87-75, in a non-conference matchup inside Bristol Gym.  With the loss, Fisher is now 0-1 while the Statesmen sit at 1-0 early in the season.

The Cardinals had the hot hand early as Sammy Robinson drilled a 3-pointer on a feed from Tyler English as Fisher had Hobart in a five-point hole after a 7-2 run over the opening three minutes of play.  The lead changed hands three times, however, over the next five minutes until Hobart strung together 13 unanswered points to open up a double-digit lead, 27-16, midway through the opening half. 

Fisher cut the deficit back to single digits as Robinson, who scored 12 points in the first half, sank a jumper in the paint, but the Statesmen responded with another run, this time scoring nine of the game's next 11 points to hold a 16-point edge, 36-20.  The Cardinals continued to chip away as the half wore on, but Hobart sank two 3-pointers down the stretch to head into halftime holding a 48-32 advantage.

Coming out of intermission, Hobart stretched its lead to as many as 23 points before the Cardinals orchestrated an 11-0 run fueled by five points from the free throw line and four from Robinson to make it a 12-point affair, 77-65, with just over five minutes left to go.

With momentum working in its favor, Fisher continued to up the pressure and forced Hobart into three turnovers down the stretch, but time would run out as the comeback effort was not in the cards.

Robinson finished with a game-high 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field.  The sophomore also had six rebounds and two assists overall.  Jake Haight finished with 14 points and five boards while Ryan Henderson had three made field goals for seven points.  Michael D'Amico contributed seven points, five rebounds and four assists at the guard position.

As a team, Fisher was 27-for-60 (.450) from the field and 18-for-26 (.692) from the charity stripe.  The Cardinals enjoyed a 40-33 advantage on the glass and forced the Statesmen into 20 turnovers.
 
The Cardinals are back on the road this weekend as the team takes part in the inaugural Great Lakes Invitational hosted by Marietta College.  On Friday, Fisher will take on Birmingham-Southern College at 4 p.m. before battling Hope College at 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.