DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team was unable to hold on to a double-digit lead in the second half as the Cardinals fell to Saint Joseph's College of Maine on Monday, 66-64, in the consolation game of the Mauro Pannagio Tournament inside the DME Sports Academy.  With the loss, Fisher, which has now dropped its last three games, fell to 4-5 on the season while the Monks climbed to 3-6 with the win.

The Cardinals out-played the Monks in nearly every aspect, however, Saint Joseph's of Maine was able to climb back into contention after knocking down 13 3-pointers on the day.  In all, Fisher was 27-for-71 (.380) from the floor and out-rebounded its opposition, 47-30, including 18-5 on the offensive glass. 

Sammy Robinson was the leader for Fisher on the offensive end of the floor with 18 points and seven rebounds.  Dennis Hare finished with a double-double including 15 points 10 rebounds and five assists while Brendan Trapper added eight points and five rebounds.  Mark Valeriani chipped in with eight points while Nick Klein scored seven off the bench.

After taking a double-digit lead into the start of the second half, Fisher would pad its advantage as a lay-up by Trapper on the Cardinals' opening possession made it a 14-point affair.  The Monks, however, would counter with three makes from downtown as part of a 13-2 run to pull to within three points, 38-35, with just three minutes having ticked off the clock. 

With momentum beginning to favor St. Joseph's of Maine, Fisher regrouped to the tune of a 9-2 burst fueled by five points from Valeriani to push the lead back to double-digits, 47-37.

As the half wore on, the Monks once again found a groove from distance with five 3-pointers over the course of a four minute stretch as they scored 17 of the game's next 21 points to turn a deficit into a one-point lead, 57-56, with under seven minutes remaining in the game.

The lead would change hands eight times over the final six minutes of regulation until a 3-pointer by the Monks with 22 seconds left to play staked them to a 66-64 margin.  Fisher called a timeout to draw up a final play, however, St. Joseph's of Maine forced the Cardinals into a turnover to seal the come-from-behind win.

Fisher will look to get back on the right track at 8 p.m. on Sunday, December 29th when they host SUNY Poly in the opening round of the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa Tournament inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court.  SUNY Cortland will face off with Pitt-Bradford on the other side of the bracket with the winner of each game meeting at 3 p.m. on December 30th in the title game.