PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team won its second straight Empire 8 contest on Friday evening inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium as the Cardinals defeated The Sage Colleges, 75-65, in what marked the first conference pairing between the two programs.  With the win, Fisher improved to 10-8 overall and 5-4 in the conference standings while Sage fell to 7-10 on the season and 2-6 against Empire 8 opponents.

Jake Haight put the Gators on notice from the get-go as the junior corralled a pass in the paint from Sammy Robinson and threw it down on the Cardinals' opening possession.  Undeterred, Sage answered back with back-to-back 3-pointers to hold a four-point lead, 6-2.  The advantage would change hands four times over the next three minutes until a 3-pointer from Alex Sausville ignited an 8-0 Fisher run that staked the home team to a five-point edge, 19-14.

After swapping baskets over the next several minutes, Fisher would extend its lead to seven as Robinson buried a shot from behind the arc, but Sage remained within striking distance as the Gators converted 3-of-4 attempts from the free throw line to keep it a two possession game.

Leading by six points with two minutes remaining in the period, Fisher began to push the tempo as the Cardinals scored eight of the final 10 points of the first half including four free throws to head into the break with a double-digit lead, 42-30.

Fisher continued to hit its stride to begin the second half with Tyler English scoring four quick points including a dunk to open up a 46-33 cushion.  From there, the lead would grow to as many as 15 points before the Gators used an 8-0 burst to pull to within seven points with 10 minutes remaining in the contest.

As the half continued, Fisher settled in and pushed its lead back to double figures after orchestrating a 7-2 run fueled by four points from sophomore Dennis Hare to make it 64-52. 

Facing an uphill climb, Sage came to life late with five quick points to cut the deficit to seven, 72-65, but three straight makes at the charity stripe halted the Gators' momentum and sealed the win for Fisher.

English led all scorers with 19 points to go along with eight rebounds and two steals while Robinson finished with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting.  Michael D'Amico added nine points and four boards in the win while Ryan Henderson chipped in with seven points in 12 minutes of action. 

As a team, Fisher had the hot hand all game and shot 28-for-52 (.538) from the floor.  The Cardinals went 14-of-18 from the free throw line and out-rebounded their guest, 40-29.

St. John Fisher will look to make it three wins in a row at 2 p.m. on Saturday when it hosts Utica College in an Empire 8 contest.