PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team forced 26 turnovers on Friday as the Cardinals handled The College at Old Westbury, 80-58, in the opening round of the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa Tournament inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court.  With the win, Fisher, which advanced to Saturday's championship game, improved to 4-4 overall while the Panthers fell to 3-5 on the season.  Fisher will take on R.P.I. at 3 p.m. on Saturday as the Engineers defeated Lancaster Bible, 61-60, to earn their spot in the championship tilt.  

Both teams found their stride early as the Cardinals and Panthers swapped baskets over the game's first three minutes of play, but it would be Fisher that came out on top as the Cardinals built a six-point lead with back-to-back layups from Ryan Henderson and Jake Haight.

The advantage would begin to shift as the half wore on with Old Westbury stringing together eight unanswered points as part of a 16-3 burst that saw the Panthers open up a seven-point edge, 25-18, with nearly nine minutes left in the opening half.

As time continued to tick down, the momentum swung in the Cardinals' favor as the home team forced Old Westbury into three turnovers down the stretch.  At the same time, Fisher's offense came to life with a 16-4 run of its own over the final six minutes of play to turn an eight-point deficit into a four-point lead, 36-32, at halftime.

The Cardinals carried their hot hand over to start the second half and used a 16-1 run highlighted by six points from sophomore Dennis Hare to open up a commanding 18-point lead with 11:09 still left to play.

Old Westbury countered with a modest run of its own to cut the lead to 14 points, but Fisher continued to up the pressure as the Cardinals responded with 16 of the game's next 22 points capped by a dunk from Henderson to make it a 24-point margin.

The Panthers continued to battle as the game wore on, but the damage was done as the Cardinals cruised to the non-conference win.

As a team, Fisher was 31-of-70 (.443) from the floor and knocked down seven from behind the arc overall.  Defensively, the Cardinals came away with 14 steals and out-rebounded the Panthers, 45-38.

Tyler English led the way with a game-high 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting to go along with five rebounds while Sammy Robinson contributed 14 points four steals and four boards in the win.  Senior Tyler Farrell added 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench.  Hare finished with eight points and Michael D'Amico chipped in with nine points, five assists and two boards.