PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team put an exclamation point on its season as the Cardinals completed the season sweep of visiting Nazareth College, 81-74, inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court in what marked the 104th all-time meeting between the two programs.  The Cardinals, who celebrated their senior class prior to tip, moved to 10-1 on the year and 10-0 in the standings marking the first undefeated conference season since 2004-05.  Fisher has earned the top overall seed in the upcoming Empire 8 Championship and home court advantage throughout the playoff.  The Golden Flyers fell to 7-3 overall and 6-2 against Empire 8 opponents.

Before the action started, the Cardinals and head coach Mike Grosodonia II held a ceremony to honor and thank Mark Valeriani, Louden Porter and Nick Klein for their four years of dedication to the program.  

It didn't take Nazareth long to find a groove as the Golden Flyers plagued the Cardinals with eight 3-pointers in the first half alone.  After falling behind by six points with nearly eight minutes gone by, Fisher cut the deficit to four when Brendan Trapper buried a corner jumper to make it 19-15 in the visitors' favor.

Trailing by two possessions, Fisher saw the Golden Flyers' lead expand to 11 with under nine minutes to go in the opening half after Nazareth went 4-for-7 from the floor including two from behind the arc as part of a 10-3 run to hold a 29-18 edge.  The advantage would grow to as many as 14 points late in the period before an old-fashioned 3-point play from Trapper sparked a 9-4 burst that saw Fisher pull to within eight points, 42-34, at the break.

As the third quarter got underway, Fisher looked to set up shop inside the paint as Daniel Cook scored back-to-back buckets with the home team scoring eight of the next 10 points to come to within two, 44-42.  The Golden Flyers weathered the storm, however, and pushed their advantage to six points, but the Cardinals caught fire from downtown and used a 12-0 run fueled by two straight triples from Valeriani to open up a 58-52 cushion.

Ahead by six on the scoreboard, Fisher saw its lead slip away as the Golden Flyers strung together nine straight points of their own to hold a 63-60 lead with under eight minutes remaining in the game.  From there, Fisher forged ahead and used a modest 6-2 run to jump out to a four-point lead.  Nazareth would keep it close and knocked down a jumper in the middle of the key to make it 71-69.

Holding a slim lead and with time winding down, the Cardinals buckled down on the defensive end of the floor and held the Golden Flyers scoreless over the final 1:07.  On the other end, Klein weaved his way through Nazareth's defense before hitting Trapper in the middle as the junior forward threw down an emphatic dunk before the final horn sounded.

In all, four players finished in double figures with Cook leading the way with his ninth double-double of the year that included a game-high 28 points and 13 rebounds.  Trapper added 18 points and five boards of his own while Valeriani and Ryan Gentile each finished with 14 points in the win.  Klein netted five points off the bench while Sean Williams contributed two points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal.

The Cardinals will enjoy a week off before returning to action on Friday in the semifinal round of the Empire 8 Championship.  The game will be played inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court.