PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team snapped a two-game skid on Tuesday as the Cardinals dropped Utica College, 91-64, on Bobby Wanzer Court inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium.  With the win, Fisher improved to 11-6 on the season and 6-2 in the Empire 8 standings while the Pioneers closed out the day at 10-9, 4-6, respectively.

The Cardinals were able to shake off a slow start to begin the game as both teams combined for just 13 points over the first five minutes of play.  Trailing by three points, 8-5, Fisher went on a tear as the home team scored 14 of the game's next 16 points including five from James Leone to open up a nine-point edge, 19-10, with nearly 10 minutes gone by in the first half. 

The lead would grow to 12 points when Sammy Robinson turned defense into offense after stealing the ball at midcourt and laying it off the glass to make it 30-18, but the Pioneers regrouped and knocked down four of their next seven shots while burying five at the charity stripe to climb back in to contention, 35-33.

Clinging to a two-point advantage, Fisher pushed its lead to four with a pair of foul shots by Leone, but Utica battled back to tie the game up at 37-37 with an old-fashioned three-point play.  Not to be outdone, Mark Valeriani closed out the first half with a kiss off the glass to send both teams into the break with Fisher ahead, 39-37.

The pause in action reenergized the Cardinals' offense as Fisher sprinted out to double-digit lead after scoring 18 unanswered points as part of a larger 24-5 run that saw Fisher convert 9-of-11 free throws and make three from beyond the arc to open up a commanding 21-point edge, 63-42.

The lead would balloon to 31 points late in the second half with the Cardinals scoring 17 of the game's next 19 points fueled by four points apiece from Sean Williams and Ryan Henderson to make it 89-58 with under four minutes left to play.

With time winding down and both teams in the bonus, Utica was never able to mount any significant threat down the stretch as Fisher remained in the postseason picture with its sixth win in conference play.

Henderson finished with 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in the win while freshman Williams added 14 points of his own along with a game-high four steals.  Leone scored 12 points in 24 minutes while Dylan Harrington added nine points of his own.  Robinson returned to the lineup after missing a game and produced eight points in eight minutes including two triples.  Matt Asenjo chipped in with seven points on 2-of-4 shooting and Dennis Hare contributed seven points off the bench.

As a team, Fisher was 34-of-58 (.586) from the field overall and shot well from distance with eight makes from downtown.  At the charity stripe, the Cardinals went 15-of-19 on the night.

The Cardinals will hit the road and head to Hoboken, N.J. at 7:30 p.m. on Friday for a rematch with the Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks in an Empire 8 bout.