ALBANY, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher men's basketball team fell 81-72 to Russell Sage on Friday night at the Kahl Campus Center for its fifth consecutive loss. 

The Cardinals, still searching for their first Empire 8 victory of the season, dropped to 4-10 overall (0-5 Empire 8). Russell Sage won its third straight game to improve to 11-3 overall (4-1 Empire 8). 

How It Happened

• The Cardinals led by eight, 17-9, in the early stages of the first half. Eric Kegler scored 10 points in that stretch, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers before making a layup and a mid-range jump shot. 

• Russell Sage outscored the Cardinals 28-13 the rest of the half en route to a 37-30 halftime lead. The Gators kept the Cardinals scoreless for about six minutes during one stretch of that run. 

• The game got further away from the Cardinals in the second half, as the Gators built and maintained a 10- to 15-point lead for most of the final 20 minutes. Sage had its largest lead of the night – 17 points – with about seven minutes remaining. 

• Sage's Noah Girard scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half. He shot 5 of 7 overall and 2 of 4 from three. 

Game Notes

• Senior forward Eric Kegler scored a game-high 22 points. He has led the Cardinals in scoring in back-to-back games. 

• Kegler has scored 20 or more points in four games this season, including the last two. 

• Senior guard Cole Thompson chipped in 17 points while shooting 8 of 12 overall (1 of 4 from three). 

Up Next

The Cardinals face Hartwick at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday in Oneonta.