PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Sophomore Sammy Robinson and junior Ryan Henderson combined to score 48 points as the St. John Fisher College men's basketball team pushed East Avenue rival Nazareth College to the brink on Tuesday before falling in overtime, 93-84, in front of a packed house inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court.  With the loss, Fisher fell to 8-6 overall and 3-2 in the Empire 8 standings while the Golden Flyers improved to 9-4 on the year and remained unbeaten in conference play at 4-0.

Robinson established a new career-high after finishing with 27 points on 12-of-25 shooting from the floor.  The forward also added five rebounds in 29 minutes of play.  Henderson tallied a double-double with 21 points and 11 boards while senior Tyler English inched his way closer to 1,000 career points after chipping in 12 points and nine boards overall.  English now sits just 22 points away from becoming the 23rd player in Fisher's storied history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau.  Dennis Hare added eight points, six rebounds and two assists at the guard position.

It was all Nazareth in the early going as the Golden Flyers opened up the contest with seven unanswered points and built an eight-point edge, 18-10, with nearly nine minutes gone by in the opening half.

Facing an uphill climb, Fisher clawed its way back into contention as the Cardinals reeled off 14 of the game's next 19 points including seven points from Ryan Henderson to turn a deficit into a one-point lead, 24-23.
 
As the half continued, the lead would change hands three more times with Nazareth clinging to a four-point cushion, 34-30, after sinking two free throws with 4:28 remaining the stanza.  From there, the ball bounced in Fisher's direction as the Cardinals stole the momentum beginning with an old-fashioned three-point play from Sammy Robinson.  The home team continued to play well down the stretch and strung together a 9-0 run to head into the break with a 43-37 advantage.

The Cardinals maintained their lead as the second got underway, however, Nazareth's steady play allowed it to reclaim the advantage at 12:38 after outscoring the Cardinals 12-6 in a span on four minutes.  After more back-and-forth play, the Cardinals were able to generate a six-point margin as Henderson found Robinson on the block for a layup to make it 71-65.

The lead would be short-lived though with the Golden Flyers scoring five of the next 10 of the next 15 points including a layup with four seconds left to send the game into overtime tied at 77 points apiece.  

In the overtime period, Nazareth struck first with four quick points, but Henderson kept the Cardinals within striking distance with a 3-pointer in the corner on a feed from Robinson.  Down 81-80, Fisher went cold from the floor as the Golden Flyers went 3-for-3 from the field and outscored their host 10-2 over the final 2:14 to remain atop the conference standings. 

Overall, head coach Michael Grosodonia II's squad shot 35-for-78 (.449) from the field and had 18 assists overall.  On the defensive end of the court, Fisher yielded 33 field goals on 57 attempts as Nazareth shot nearly 58 percent for the game and committed only 10 turnovers.

 After three straight games at home, Fisher will hit the road this weekend for a pair of conference contests beginning with a 6 p.m. bout on Friday at Hartwick College.