PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Four different players finished in double figures on Tuesday night but the St. John Fisher College men's basketball team was unable to overcome a late deficit as the Cardinals fell to Nazareth College, 88-84, inside a packed Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court.  With the defeat, Fisher slipped to 10-6 on the season and 5-2 in the conference while the Golden Flyers emerged with an 11-3 mark and a 6-0 standing in the Empire 8.

James Leone led the way for Fisher with his third double-double of the season as the junior scored 19 points and hauled down a game-high 10 rebounds.  Ryan Henderson finished with 15 points and four boards while freshman Sean Williams stuffed the stat sheet with a career-high 14 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals.  Dylan Harrington contributed 10 points, four rebounds and three dimes.

As a team, Fisher was 33-for-67 from the floor and connected on nine from behind the arc overall.  The Cardinals out-rebounded their guest, 37-29, and came away with 12 boards on the offensive end of the court.  Defensively, Fisher forced the Golden Flyers into 14 turnovers.

Both teams came out firing over the opening minutes of play as the game featured three ties and two lead changes in the first seven minutes of action.  With the Golden Flyers holding a slim 9-7 edge, Fisher produced a 7-2 scoring run that opened up a three-point lead, 14-11, to give the home team its first lead of the game.

As the half continued, Fisher continued to knock down open shots and built a seven-point cushion, 29-22, after Jordan Gilman buried a triple at the top of the key.  The lead, however, would falter as the half wore on with the Golden Flyers using an 8-2 run over the final 2:37 to take a one-possession lead into halftime, 43-41.

The momentum would shift again as the second half got underway with the Cardinals orchestrating an 11-2 run over the opening 3:39 of the period to make it 52-45 in the home team's corner.

Trailing by seven, Nazareth responded with a run of its own as the visitors caught fire from beyond the arc with four made 3-pointers as part of a larger 15-2 run that turned a deficit into a 60-54 edge.

The Cardinals continued to run their offense and work the ball around the perimeter as time ticked down.  Facing an uphill climb and a nine-point hole with under five minutes to play, Fisher found its footing and scored nine unanswered points including a 3-pointer from Brendan Trapper to knot things up at 76-76 with 2:30 remaining in the game.

With the game tied up, Fisher was unable to sustain its run as the Golden Flyers weathered the storm and turned in seven of the game's next eight points to take an 83-77 lead with just over a minute left to play.  From there, Leone would score five straight points including an old-fashioned 3-point play to make it a two-point game, 86-84, but Nazareth would seal the win at the line with a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to come out ahead, 88-84.

Fisher will look to get back on track at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 29th when Utica College comes to town for an Empire 8 tilt inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium.