PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Four different players finished in double figures on Friday night as the St. John Fisher College men's basketball team scored a season-high in a 102-75 win over visiting Elmira College inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court. With the win, Fisher, which has come out on top in each of its last three games, moved to 16-7 overall and 11-3 in the Empire 8. Elmira finished the night at 6-17 overall and 4-10 in conference play.
Both teams came out hot to begin the first half as the lead swapped hands four times in the first three minutes before a layup from
Ryan Henderson staked Fisher to a 7-6 lead. From there, the Cardinals caught fire from behind the arc as the home team drained five 3-pointers including three from
Sammy Robinson over a five minute stretch to open up a nine-point edge, 26-17.
Holding a three possession lead, the Cardinals continued to push the pace and rattled off eight unanswered points to open a double-digit advantage, 34-19, with 9:25 still left to play in the half.
The Soaring Eagles continued to battle as the half wore on and would pull to within nine courtesy of a 9-3 burst, but the Cardinals halted their momentum after
Sean Williams came up with a steal at midcourt and dropped it off to Henderson who threw down a one-handed slam to spark a 10-0 run that pushed Fisher's advantage to 19, 47-28.
Holding a 15-point lead to begin the second half, the Cardinals quickly turned it into a 21-point edge after scoring eight of the second half's first 10 points. After exchanging buckets on the offensive end of the court over the next two minutes, Fisher gained control with a 10-2 run that saw the home team knock down all four of its field goals to make it a 69-45 game.
As time wore on, the Cardinals hot shooting from distance continued with five more triples en route to a 27-point win.
Robinson finished with a game-high 24 points including 16 points in the first half. Henderson notched 21 points, eight rebounds and three assists on the night as the senior forward sits just 23 points away from cracking 1,000 career points.
James Leone added 14 points, five rebounds and four helpers while
Dylan Harrington matched a career-high with 13 points in the win and
Jordan Gilman netted seven points of the bench.
Overall, the Cardinals shot 61 percent from the field and had 25 assists on 41 field goals. Fisher's 15 3-pointers marked a season-high.
The Cardinals will look to keep their momentum going at 4 p.m. on Saturday when they host Alfred University in a critical Empire 8 bout on Bobby Wanzer Court. The game will have added significance as the team will honor its four seniors prior to tip.