GENESEO, N.Y. – Despite a near second-half comeback effort, the St. John Fisher men's basketball team fell to Geneseo, 74-68, Saturday night at Carl Schrader Gymnasium. 

The Cardinals (6-6, 2-1 Empire 8) trailed by as much as 16 to the Knights (6-5, 2-1 E8), but battled back to get within four points three separate times in the last 2:02 of play. 

Freshman guard Mekhi Gidney led Fisher with 15 points on 5-for-12 shooting (2-5 3PT). Sophomore forward Maximus Michalski posted 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting, seven rebounds and five blocks. Sophomore guard Alex Hayes finished with 12 points on 5-for-13 shooting (2-5 3PT). 

How It Happened

Hayes connected on a long jumper to put Fisher on the board first. The Cardinals followed up with triples from Gidney and Schneider to lead 9-3 with 13:47 to go in the first frame. 

The Knights responded with eight unanswered points to take an 11-9 edge. Fisher retook the lead off an 11-5 spurt, until Geneseo later fired back with 11 more unanswered points to go up 29-22, forcing a Cardinals timeout with 5:41 remaining.

McCaffrey dropped in two straight layups, and Gidney drilled another three-pointer out of the break to cut the Cardinal's deficit to 30-29. Geneseo answered with a quick 6-0 run, while holding Fisher scoreless in that span, to maintain a 36-29 lead into the locker room. 

Gidney led Fisher with eight points at halftime. The Cardinals struggled from the field through 20 minutes, shooting 27.3% from three and 35.5% overall, yet also limited Geneseo to 38.5% shooting. The Knights hit seven more free throws to fuel their first-half advantage. 

Geneseo continued its momentum into the second frame, pushing its lead to double-digits through the first four minutes of action. Fisher trimmed the gap to 45-38, but the Knights tallied 9 straight points to take a 54-38 cushion at the 13:15 mark. 

The Cardinals crafted a 12-6 surge to trim their deficit to 60-52 after a Gidney lay-in. Geneseo then extended their lead to 64-52 before Andrew Violante buried threes on back-to-back possessions to get Fisher back into the game, down 64-58, with 5:49 left. 

Both teams traded points over the ensuing three minutes. After a crucial defensive stop, Gidney converted a drive and score to get the Cardinals within four, 68-64. 

A Geneseo layup later pushed its lead again to six. Michalski put-back a floater the next play to keep Fisher's deficit at four, 70-66, with 48 seconds remaining. The Cardinals forced a crucial 10-second violation the next possession, but could not come up with points to pull within two. 

The Knights went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final 15 seconds to claim a 74-68 victory. 

Game Notes

• Gidney has scored at least 15 points in each of the Cardinals' last three games. 

• Michalski has scored 10 points or more in all but three games this season. 

• Schneider has dished out five or more assists in three straight games. 

• The Cardinals matched their season high with seven blocked shots. 

Up Next

The Cardinals return to action on Jan. 13 against Houghton at the Nielsen Physical Education Center. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.