ALFRED, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team pulled to within seven points late, but was unable to upset top-seeded Alfred University on Saturday as the Cardinals fell in the Empire 8 Championship game, 90-78, in the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena.  With the loss, Fisher's season concludes at 18-9 while the Saxons, who moved to 23-4 with the win, earned their first-ever Empire 8 crown and will advance to play in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship, which is slated to begin next weekend.

In all, four players finished in double figures led by senior Ryan Henderson who posted 19 points and six rebounds in his final game as a Cardinal.  The Cazenovia native, who was named the Empire 8 Player of the Year this season, concludes his career with 1,050 points, which is tied for 19th-most in team history.  Dylan Harrington wrapped up his senior season with 14 points and a team-high six assists while freshman Brendan Trapper netted 11 points off the bench.  James Leone contributed 10 points, five boards and three steals overall.  Sammy Robinson chipped in with nine points, eight rebounds and two assists and will enter next season needing just 13 points to become the 25th player in team history to net 1,000 career points.

The Saxons came out firing as Alfred connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to open the game and would build a seven point lead over the opening 3:15.  The Cardinals, however, weathered the storm and used a 9-2 run capped off by a 3-pointer from Matt Asenjo to knot things up at 12-12.

As the half wore on, both teams continued to battle with the Saxons using a 5-0 run to create some breathing room with the score at 38-29 and 4:19 left to go before the break.  From there, Fisher would rattle off nine unanswered points including four from Henderson to tie the game up at 38-38, but the Saxons countered with eight of the half's final 10 points to take a 46-40 edge into halftime.

As the second half began, Alfred drilled two from behind the arc and built an 8-1 run over the opening 2:08 to take a double-digit lead, 54-41.  Trailing by 13 points, the Cardinals got two points back at the charity stripe only to see Alfred extend its lead to 17 points courtesy of a 7-2 burst to make it, 61-44, with just under 16 minutes still showing.

Head coach Mike Grosodonia II's squad continued to battle down the stretch and would pull within eight points on a layup from Robinson, but the home team continued to feed off its crowd and built its lead back to 12 points with consecutive buckets. 

The Cardinals remained within striking distance with time winding down as Leone drilled a 3-pointer to cut the gap to seven points, but seven straight points from Alfred put the game on ice as the Saxons earned their first trip toTthe Dance in nearly 20 years.

As a team, Fisher was 28-of-64 from the field and buried eight from distance overall.  The team had 18 assists on the night against 15 turnovers and forced 11 steals on the defensive end of the floor.