Men's Basketball | 11/17/2022 8:01:00 AM

PITTSFORD, NY – The St. John Fisher University men's basketball team will play two games in the Marks Pizzeria Crosstown Shootout as they take on the University of Rochester YellowJackets on Thursday, Nov. 17 before challenging the RIT Tigers on Saturday Nov. 19. Both games are set to take place at RIT, with the tip-off against the YellowJackets on Thursday set to be at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday.

The Cardinals return to Rochester after splitting in the Virginia Wesleyan Tip-Off Tournament, where Fisher outlasted Pfieffer University 79-74 and dropped to Virginia Weslyan 80-69. With conference play beginning Dec. 2, the Cardinals will look to improve their overall 1-2 record this weekend.

Last Matchups: The Cardinals topped the YellowJackets when these two teams met last season, by a 76-60 margin. The 16-point difference marked the largest margin of victory between these two teams since at least 2006. While the Cardinals trailed 35-31 with two minutes to go in the first half, Daniel Cook propelled Fisher behind a fast break dunk to go up 36-35 heading into halftime. With the second half underway, Brendan Trapper helped solidify an early 11-4, scoring nine of the 11 points to give the Cardinals a 51-42 edge. In the win, Fisher forced 18 turnovers, four of which came from Cook. Cook led the team with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Trapper ended the night with 14 points.

Fisher has beat RIT in five consecutive games, taking last year's matchup by a 65-51 score. After an early double-digit lead, Fisher pushed the advantage to 20 points after a 9-1 run fueled by four points from Trapper to open up a 43-23 edge with 12 minutes remaining. The lead would swell to as many as 24 points before the Tigers responded with 10 unanswered points of their own to pull within 14, 53-39 with just under five minutes to go. With time winding down, RIT was unable to mount a comeback as Fisher finished 22-for-62 from the field with 22 points coming inside of the paint.

Player to Watch: The graduate student Ryan Gentile is the player of the week to watch. Gentile enters the week with 63 minutes under his belt over the three games this season, finishing with a .427 clip in field goals made.

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