PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The Houghton men's basketball team used a dominant start and a strong finish to beat St. John Fisher 91-82 on Tuesday night at Manning and Napier Varsity Gym.
The Cardinals, who have lost their last four games, dropped to 4-9 overall and 0-4 in the Empire 8 Conference. Houghton beat Fisher for the first time in program history and improved to 8-5 (3-1 Empire 8).
How It Happened
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The Cardinals appeared ticketed for a blowout loss in the early stages of the first half, as they trailed by 17 (25-8) through the first seven minutes. Fisher committed four turnovers and made just four shots from the field in the stretch.
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Fisher slowly chipped away at the large deficit and whittled it down to single digits late in the half. An 11-2 run sent the Cardinals into halftime trailing by just four, 43-39.
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The Cardinals trimmed their deficit to one (45-44) early in the second half, but they never fully climbed the hill. Houghton went on another sustained run to push its lead to 16, 66-50, with 12 minutes to play.
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The Cardinals never got within fewer than seven points the rest of the way.
Game Notes
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Three Houghton players – Christian Sage (22 points), Jajuan Preaster (22) and Lou Bellamy (21) – scored more than 20 points.
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The Highlanders connected on 41.7% (10 of 24) of their 3-point shots, while the Cardinals struggled from deep, making just 27.3% (6 of 22) of their attempts. Sage made 4 of 7 shots from three.
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Fisher senior forward Eric Kegler scored a game-high 25 points while shooting 10 of 16 overall (1 of 3 from three) and 4 of 4 from the foul line. He scored 17 of those points after halftime.
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Junior guard Joshua Lopez, who shot 7 of 9 overall and 4 of 5 from the line, scored a career-high 18 points. He had nine in each half.
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Freshman forward/center Maximus Michalski pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds.
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The Cardinals had won 25 straight games against Houghton entering the contest.
Up Next
The Cardinals face Russell Sage at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in Albany.
