Men's Basketball | 1/19/2018 8:38:00 PM

ONEONTA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team fell on the road to the Hawks of Hartwick College, 70-66, in an Empire 8 Conference matchup inside Lambros Arena. With the loss, Fisher drops to 8-7 overall, while falling to 3-3 in the conference. Hartwick moves to 5-9 overall, while advancing to 2-3 in the Empire 8.

Alex Sausville would knock down the first bucket of the game for Fisher, with the Cardinals going on a 7-0 run to start the contest. However, Hartwick would find its own groove going on a 9-0 run of its own, and back and forth action would mark the remainder of the first half. Jake Haight was a monster for the Cardinals in the first half of play, scoring 12 of the team's first 16 total points.

After trading points back and forth for about 10 minutes in the first half, James Leone would power through the paint for the layup tying the score at 26 points apiece. With less than a minute to go Ryan Henderson would find a fast break bucket in the paint, giving Fisher its final lead of the half. Hartwick would go on to put up a 3-pointer with 33 seconds remaining in the half to again tie the ball game.

Powered by Haight's 14 points and nine rebounds, Fisher would head into the locker room at halftime knotted up at 32-32 with the Hawks.

Hartwick would gather some momentum, going on an 8-0 run to begin the first 1:40 of the second half. Michael D'Amico would get the Cardinals back on the board with 18:06 on the clock, hitting a 3-pointer and cutting the deficit to three.

As the half continued, Hartwick would find itself up by as many as 10 with 14:31 remaining. Fisher would then cut the lead to just one after Sammy Robinson knocked down two big triples and a pair of free throws with fewer than 10 minutes remaining on the clock.

Tyler English would then go on to lay it in, giving the Cardinals a 56-55 lead with 5:43 remaining on the clock. However, Fisher's 7-0 run would be answered as the Hawks knocked down big free throws down the stretch to put the score in their favor, 62-58, with 3:35 remaining in regulation.

A D'Amico layup would cut the deficit to five, however the Hawks would answer that with a 3-pointer to maintain some breathing room.

Fisher would come within three after a Robinson layup and a 3-pointer from English, but would eventually run out of time, falling 70-66 in regulation.

Haight would finish with a double-double, shooting 8-of-14 from the field, giving the Cardinals 17 points and 16 total rebounds. Robinson would finish with 10 points and five rebounds of his own. English added seven points to go with five assists and five boards, while D'Amico would add seven points and two assists. Matt Asenjo and Dennis Hare would each add five points off the bench.

The Cardinals return to the hardwood at 3 p.m. on Saturday against Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.