PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The top-seeded St. John Fisher College men's basketball team suffered its first loss since early March as the Cardinals fell to second-seeded Utica College, 89-65, in the title game of the Empire 8 Championship inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court.  With the loss, Fisher's season concludes at 11-2 while the Pioneers closed out the campaign at 10-2.

Ryan Gentile finished with 15 points after knocking down five from downtown while Brendan Trapper netted 15 points of his own and had six rebounds.  Daniel Cook chipped in with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists in the loss while Nick Klein contributed six points off the bench.  Sean Williams had five points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal.

With the game tied at nine in the early going, Utica caught fire from behind the arc and used an 11-2 run to build a 20-11 edge with just over 13 minutes to play before the break.

Trailing by nine, the Cardinals would see their deficit grow to as many as 13 points, but Fisher found its footing with under 10 minutes to play and rattled off five straight 3-pointers of its own including two from Gentile as part of a 15-4 run to cut the margin down to two, 31-29.

With momentum favoring the home team, Utica weathered the storm and recovered with seven of the game's next nine points to push the lead back up to nine, 40-31. 

As the half ticked away, the Pioneers' advantage would reach double figures, before Williams found a seam and scored a lay-up to send both teams into their locker rooms with the visitors leading, 44-35.

The Pioneers carried over their hot shooting in the second half as Utica went 3-for-3 from distance and strung together a 13-4 burst to open up an 18-point lead.

Facing an uphill Climb, Fisher fought its way back into contention after scoring 11 of the next 13 points fueled by six from Gentile to pull within nine, 59-50.  With the tides beginning to shift, Utica buckled down and put the game out of reach after orchestrating an 11-1 run to build a 20-point lead with under four minutes remaining.

A bucket inside by Cook halted the Pioneers' rally, but five quick points including three free throws put the game out of reach before the final horn sounded on a 24-point win for Utica.

Overall, Fisher wrapped up the 2020-21 campaign with a 10-0 mark in Empire 8 play, which was the first undefeated conference schedule the Cardinals have played since 2004-05.  Fisher earned the Empire 8 Regular Season Championship while Cook was named the Player of the Year.  Williams took home Defensive Player of the Year accolades while head coach Mike Grosodonia II and his assistants were named the Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year.