PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team grinded out a hard-fought win on Saturday as the Cardinals outlasted Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 76-75, to win the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa Championship in Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court.  With the win, Fisher improved to 5-4 overall while the Engineers fell to 7-2 on the season. 

After beginning the game with an 8-2 run courtesy of two 3-pointers from Sammy Robinson, the Cardinals found themselves in a six-point hole after the Engineers converted five of their next six field goal attempts and used a 12-0 run to build a 14-8 edge.

Fisher countered with six unanswered points of its own to tie the game up 14-14, but RPI pushed its cushion back to seven after reeling off seven straight points to hold a 29-22 advantage with 5:36 remaining in the first half. 

From there, the Cardinals would climb back into the game at the free throw line as Mark Valeriani, Tyler Farrell, Dennis Hare and Daniel Morales combined for seven points at the stripe to make it 31-29.  After a layup by the Engineers made it a four-point game, Fisher worked the ball inside as Farrell and Jake Haight both put the ball through the hoop to tie the game at 33-33, but RPI rained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to head into the locker room holding a 36-33 edge at the break.

Coming out of intermission, Robinson connected from distance to tie the contest but the Engineers responded with a 9-2 run that ate up over two minutes of time to hold a 45-38 advantage.  Trailing by seven with 17:33 still showing on the clock, Fisher clawed its way back into contention after orchestrating a 10-3 run over the next six minutes to knot the contest at 48 points apiece.

The momentum continued to swing in Fisher's favor as the game wore on with the Cardinals applying full court pressure.  The home team would eventually build a seven-point lead of its own after converting 7-of-8 attempts from the free throw line, but RPI continued to hang around as the Engineers went on an 11-2 run including nine straight points to turn a deficit into a two-point lead, 70-68. 

After calling a timeout to regroup, Fisher worked the ball as Tyler English drove the lane and dumped it off to Haight who converted the old-fashioned 3-point play as part of a 6-0 run to lift the Cardinals to a 76-75 non-conference win.

English was 6-for-10 from the field resulting in 14 points along with three assists and a rebound.  Robinson also added 14 points in the win after sinking four from downtown.  Fisher's bench provided a spark after chipping in 39 points led by Hare who contributed 12 points and six boards.  Haight added nine points and six rebounds of his own while Dylan Harrington finished with seven points and two dimes.

Fisher will embark on its conference schedule at 6 p.m. on Tuesday when it travels to Utica to battle the Pioneers in an Empire 8 tilt.