PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team saw its four-game winning streak come to an end on Friday night as the Cardinals fell to The Sage Colleges, 77-73, in an Empire 8 tilt inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court.  With the loss, Fisher slipped to 15-8 on the year and 10-2 in the conference standings while the Gators climbed to 14-9 overall and 7-5 in the Empire 8.

It was all Sage to begin the game as the Gators came out hot after connecting on seven of their first 11 shots to open up a 14-5 lead.  From there, the visitors continued to work the ball inside and would eventually build a 23-7 lead with 11:34 still showing on the clock.

Facing a 16-point gap, Fisher was able to climb back into contention after scoring 18 of the game's next 24 points including a 7-0 run to pull to within 29-25 with just over seven minutes to go before the break.

As the half continued to wind down, the momentum would swing back in Sage's direction as the Gators held Fisher scoreless from the field over the final four minutes of the half to hold a 42-32 edge at halftime.

Coming out of the break, Fisher pushed the pace early as head coach Mike Grosodonia's squad poured in 10 of the half's first 14 points to pull to within four points, 46-42.  The Gators would push their cushion back to seven points with 12:50 left to go, but the Cardinals weathered the storm and orchestrated an 11-3 run led by seven points from sophomore Sean Williams to take their first lead of the game since their opening possession. 

With just one point standing between the two teams, the lead would change hands three more times over the next five minutes until a lay-up from Matt Asenjo knotted things up at 65-65 with 5:34 to play.  From there, Sage built a four-point lead before Williams connected on a 3-pointer from deep to pull the home team to within one. 

After swapping points down the stretch, Sage held a slim lead, but the Cardinals worked the ball inside as Dennis Hare kissed it off the glass to push Fisher ahead, 71-70, with just 33 seconds showing on the clock.  The lead would be short-lived, however, as Sage called a timeout to draw up a play that resulted in an elbow jumper and the lead.  Trailing by one, Fisher worked the ball across the timeline, but coughed it up as Sage forged ahead to earn their seventh conference win of the year.

Williams led all players with 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go along with five rebounds, four assists and three steals while Hare and Asenjo each added 13 points in all.  Senior Sammy Robinson netted 11 points in the loss while Brendan Trapper contributed eight points and five rebounds.

With just two games remaining before the Conference Championship, the Cardinals are right back to work at 2 p.m. on Saturday as they welcome Utica College to Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium for another pivotal Empire 8 bout on Bobby Wanzer Court.