PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Nazareth's Jaylen Savage made a contested layup in the final seconds to crush the St. John Fisher men's basketball team's late, wild comeback bid on Tuesday night in front of a raucous crowd at Manning and Napier Varsity Gym. 

The Cardinals dropped to 6-12 overall and 2-7 in the Empire 8 with the 82-80 loss, while the Golden Flyers improved to 13-5 (8-1 E8). This marks the first time Nazareth has won consecutive games in the Battle of the Beaks series since its stretch of three victories in 2018-19. 

Senior forward Connor Williams led the Cardinals with 32 points on 11 of 18 shooting. Savage shot 8 of 19 overall and 7 of 7 from the foul line to lead the Golden Flyers with 24 points. 

Struggles from the three-throw line plagued the Cardinals from start to finish, as they shot under 60% from the stripe (17 of 29). Nazareth cashed in on 83.3% of its chances from the line, going 20 of 24. 

How It Happened 

• Williams knocked down three 3-pointers for nine points in the first six minutes of action as the Cardinals built a seven-point lead (14-7) and got the home crowd into the game early. Freshman forward/center Maximus Michalski scored four points on a pair of layups minutes later to put Fisher ahead eight (18-10). 

• The Cardinals maintained a six- to nine-point lead until Nazareth began settling in just more than midway through the half. The Golden Flyers scored the final five points in the half and went into the break trailing by only one, 38-37. 

• Nazareth went on a 23-7 run that began early in the second half and lasted about seven minutes to take a 67-54 lead. The Golden Flyers shot 10 of 16 from the field in that stretch, while the Cardinals went 1 of 7 and turned the ball over four times. 

• The Cardinals didn't go away quietly, though, scrapping their way back into the game over the final seven minutes. Sophomore Jonathan McCaffrey made it a one-point game with a layup and a free throw with 2:17 remaining to set up a frenetic finish. 

• Nazareth led by five twice in the final 1:15, but the Cardinals made a handful of big plays to pull even and give themselves a chance to take the lead. 

• Senior guard Cole Thompson made a 3-pointer with 21 seconds to go to cut Fisher's deficit to two (80-78). Junior Max Schneider stole the subsequent in-bounds pass, and senior forward Eric Kelger made a layup while being fouled to tie the game at 80. 

• After Kegler missed the go-ahead free-throw attempt, Savage maneuvered through the Fisher defense and made a tough layup with time running out to sink the Cardinals' comeback attempt. 

Game Notes

• Williams scored 24 of his 33 points in the first half. He knocked down a career-high six threes (nine attempts), all of them in the first 20 minutes. 

• Williams' six 3-pointers made marked the most by a Fisher player in a game since Ryan Gentile had seven in February 2023 against Hartwick. 

• Williams has made shot 9 of 13 (69.2%) from 3-point range over Fisher's last two games. 

• Williams, who also had nine rebounds on Tuesday, has scored 30 or more points in two games this season. He had a career-high 36 in an overtime loss to SUNY Poly on Jan. 10. 

• Michalski scored a season-high 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as part of his first career double-double. 

• Michalski has had at least 12 points in four of the Cardinals' last five games. 

• Thompson scored 12 points, all of them in the second half, while shooting 4 of 7 from three. 

• The Cardinals shot 50% (11 of 22) from 3-point range as a team. 

Up Next 

The Cardinals face Utica at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30, in Utica, New York.