UTICA, N.Y. – Sophomore
Daniel Cook was on fire Thursday night and torched Utica College as the St. John Fisher College men's basketball team remained unbeaten in Empire 8 action after downing the Pioneers, 85-69, inside the Clark Athletic Center. With the win, Fisher improved to 5-1 on the year and 5-0 against conference opposition while Utica dipped to 3-1 on the year and 2-1 in the Empire 8 standings.
Cook scored a career-high 36 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field and 16-of-18 from the free throw stripe. The Pittsford native's effort marks the most points scored in a single game for Fisher since
Jordan Gettings dropped 36 against Ithaca on January 8, 2011. The forward also finished with 12 rebounds marking his fourth double-double of the season.
Nick Klein provided a spark off the bench and finished with 16 points in the win while
Ryan Gentile had 10 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes.
Mark Valeriani chipped in with eight points and four dimes while
Ian Duncan contributed eight points of his own along with five boards.
After falling behind by 13 points at the break, Fisher came out of the locker room a different team as back-to-back old-fashioned 3-point plays from Cook sparked a 17-2 run that turned a double-digit deficit into a two-point lead, 53-51.
Trailing for the first time since the midway point of the opening half, Utica would reclaim the lead, but Fisher stamped out the Pioneers' momentum after orchestrating another run, this time an 18-2 burst highlighted by eight straight points from Duncan to open up a 15-point edge, 71-56.
With just under four minutes to play in the game, Utica cut Fisher's lead down to 11 points, but was unable to match Fisher's offensive output down the final stretch.
As a team, Fisher was 29-for-61 from the floor and made the most of its trips to the free throw line after knocking down 19 of 22 attempts (.864). Fisher out-rebounded its host, 34-28, and handed out 17 assists in all.
The Cardinals will return home at 1 p.m. on Saturday against Alfred University as they look to move to 6-0 in conference play.
