PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team succumbed to 16 3-pointers from SUNY Cortland on Monday as the Cardinals fell in the championship game of the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa Tournament, 102-78, inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gym on Bobby Wanzer Court.  With the defeat, the Cardinals ended the calendar year at 5-6 while Cortland improved to 6-2 overall.

Neither team was willing to give an inch over the first five minutes of play as the Cardinals clinged to a slim 3-point lead, 9-6.  Ahead by one possession, head coach Mike Grosodonia's squad would settle into a rhythm as Fisher scored five of the game's next seven points including a pick-and-pop by senior Sammy Robinson to open up a six-point cushion.

From there, Cortland continued to drive the ball as the Red Dragons leveled the game at 16 points aside with 12:234 remaining in the first half.  After exchanging baskets over the next three minutes, the Cardinals inbounded the ball and crossed the time line before junior Mark Valeriani caught fire from distance as the guard connected on three consecutive shots from behind the arc to stake the home team to its largest lead of the period, 36-28.

Trailing by eight with just over seven minutes to go before intermission, Cortland returned the favor as the Red Dragons one-upped Fisher to the tune of a 16-2 run including 14 unanswered points over a three-and-a-half minute stretch to turn a deficit into a 44-38 advantage.

With time winding down in the stanza, a jumper from Matt Asenjo cut the gap to four points, but the visitors continued to hit from downtown as the Red Dragons buried two of their 10 first half 3-pointers and scored eight of the half's final 10 points to take a 52-42 cushion into the locker room.

Cortland's momentum and hot shooting carried into the second half as the Red Dragons ran their lead up to 15 points before back-to-back triples from Sean Williams pulled the home team to within nine with 11:49 to play in regulation.

From there, an 8-2 burst from Cortland pushed the advantage back to 15 before the Red Dragons began to pull away after building a 21-point cushion with under five minutes to play. 

The Cardinals would cut the deficit to 18, but were unable to come up with timely stops on the defensive end as Cortland cruised to the non-conference win.

Williams led Fisher with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go along with six assists and a pair of steals.  Robinson finished with 15 points while Asenjo added 13 points, five rebounds and a team-leading three steals.

The Cardinals will begin their quest for an Empire 8 championship at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday when they travel to Alfred University.