ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The St. John Fisher University men's basketball team traveled down the road to compete against Nazareth College on Saturday Night. After a hard fought battle, the Cardinals came up short by a final score of 94-88. Fisher holds an overall record of 16-7 and are 12-4 in conference play. The Golden Flyers hold a 19-4 record and are now 13-3 in conference play.
Cole Thompson got the scoring started off an offensive rebound, laying it in the tally two for Fisher. He followed with the next basket, sinking a three point shot, assisted by Daniel Cook. Cook transitioned the ball down the court, with Jack Foley converting on a lay up, assisted by Thompson. Fisher is up 7-5 just two minutes in. Cook got a steal on the defensive end that Connor Recore converts to a three point shot, his first basket of the game, tying the match at 13-13 with 15:56 to go. Brendan McRoy added another two giving the Cardinals a one point lead, 21-20. The Golden Flyers went on a bit of a run, scoring 10 straight points, gaining a 30-21 lead with 8:47 to go. Recore stopped their momentum run, sinking a three, assisted by Cook. Fisher was down by 10 with 5:39 to go in the half. Lettko hit two three point shots, and Foley hit one to bring the score to Fisher 41, Nazareth 43 at half.
Recore got the second half scoring started for the Cardinals. Foley converted on two free throw attempts and Cook on a lay up to bring the score to 53-47, Nazareth with the lead. Gentile hit a three out of a timeout by Fisher to take the momentum. With 13:35 to go, Cook gets a steal, transitioning it down the court to McRoy, Cook with an offensive rebound, puts it back up for two points. Eric Kegeler converts on a three point play, bringing the deficit to just six with 12 minutes to go. Akinlana Popoola sinks a three in the next play to add to the run and close the gap, 63-60, Fisher down by three. With 5 minutes to go, Cook converted on two free throw attempts to bring the score to 74-72, Fisher trailing. The final two minutes of regulation continued to be a back and forth scoring battle between the teams, with Fisher chipping away. Cook tallied the next four points, bringing the score to 91-88. At the end of regulation, the Golden Flyers come out on top by a final score of 94-88.
Cook led the team with 21 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists. McRoy finished with 17 points, four rebounds, three assists and went 3-for-3 on his three point attempts. Lettko had 11 points, two rebounds, two assists and went 4-for-5 on his field goal attempts. Gentile finished with 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Up next for the Cardinals, the team will travel to Albany, N.Y. and compete against Russell Sage College on Friday, February 17th. The Empire 8 match up is set to start at 7:30pm.
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