ALFRED, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team handed Alfred University its first loss in nearly a month on Tuesday as the Cardinals cruised to a 73-51 win over the host Saxons inside the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena.  With the win, Fisher, which currently sits in fourth place in the Empire 8 standings, moved to 13-9 overall and 8-5 against conference competition.  Alfred, which had its six-game winning streak snapped, fell to 15-5 overall and 8-3 in the Empire 8.

Defense was the name of the game in the first half of play as the Cardinals held Alfred to just three field goals over the first 17 minutes of action.  On the offensive end of the court, the visiting Cardinals used a 17-3 run fueled by back-to-back old-fashioned three-point plays from Ryan Henderson and Dylan Harrington to hold a 24-7 lead.

As the opening half continued, Fisher extended its advantage to 22 points courtesy of 3-pointers from Michael D'Amico and Henderson to take a 33-11 lead into halftime.

The Cardinals were dominant on the defensive end of the floor in the first half as Fisher held its host to just five field goals in 20 minutes of play.  As a team, Alfred shot 16 percent from the floor and did not attempt a free throw.
In the second half, Fisher's cushion would grow to as many as 27 points before the Saxons cut the deficit to 17, 43-26, with under 14 minutes remaining in the game. 

Trailing a significant margin with time winding down, Alfred would repeatedly put the Cardinals on the foul line in an effort to conserve time.  Fisher, however, would convert 20-of-26 attempts in the second half including 15 free throws in the final 11 minutes to claim the 22-point win.

In all, four different players notched double figures in scoring led by Tyler English and Henderson who finished with 12 points each.  Henderson also had seven rebounds in the win while English had four assists and three boards of his own.  Sammy Robinson added 11 points while D'Amico contributed 10 points and three dimes.  Sophomore James Leone had nine points and grabbed five rebounds in 14 minutes.

As a team, Fisher was 23-for-53 (.434) from the floor and sank 23-of-30 shots from the charity stripe. 
  
Fisher's next contest pits the Cardinals against The Nazareth College Golden Flyers at 2 p.m. on Saturday as the two teams square off in the Battle of the Beaks inside Nazareth's Kidera Gymnasium.