PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher men's basketball team rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to earn a hard-fought, 60-56 Empire 8 Conference victory over Keuka College on Friday night in front of a raucous crowd at Manning & Napier Varsity Gym. 

The Cardinals, winners of four of their last five games, improved to 8-6 overall (4-1 Empire 8) with the victory. Keuka dropped to 6-8 overall (4-2 Empire 8) and had its winning streak snapped at four games. 

Sophomore forward/center Maximus Michalski scored 15 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds as part of his second collegiate double-double and first this season. Sophomore guard Andrew Violante had 13 points while shooting 5-of-7 overall, including 2-of-3 from deep. 

The Cardinals also got 21 points from their reserves off the bench, with seven coming from freshman Carson Kwiatkowski, who shot 2-of-2 overall (1-of-1 from three) and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. Junior guard Giovanni Schillaci had six points, and sophomore guard Jack Janes added five. 

Keuka was led by guard Lamar Lovelace, who finished with a game-high 21 points, with 16 coming in the first half. No other Wolve scored more than eight points. 

How It Happened

Lovelace's big first half began early, as he scored five points during the Wolves' 11-4 run to start the game. The Cardinals countered with a 9-3 run to tie the game at 13 behind four points from Michalski, three from sophomore guard Alex Hayes and two from Schillaci. 

The Wolves regained the lead, 15-13, on a pair of Lovelace free throws two minutes later and stayed in front the remainder of the half. Keuka went on a 10-4 run to take its largest lead of the frame – 23-15 – and went into the break ahead by six, 33-27.

Keuka continued to control the game in the first eight minutes of the second half as it pushed its lead to a game-high 11 points, 46-35, on a 3-pointer from Lovelace with 12:30 left. 

From that point on, Lovelace scored just two more points, and the Cardinals eventually swung the game in their favor. 

After Kevin Felasco made a pair of free throws to put Keuka ahead by 10, Violante made a contested layup to spark a 10-0 run that tied the game at 48. Senior Max Schneider made a mid-range jumper to make it 48-42, Janes drilled a three to make it 48-45 and Kwiatkowski sent the crowd into a frenzy with a triple to make it even, 48-48. 

Four Keuka free throws – two from Makya Morrison, two from Lovelace – put the Wolves back in front, but that advantage was brief. Kwiatkowski and senior forward Louis Fay cashed in on free throws to tie the game at 52, and Janes made 1-of-2 foul shots to put the Cardinals in front by one. 

After Keuka pulled even at 53, Michalski gave the Cardinals a two-point lead with a tough, contested layup with about four minutes remaining. The Cardinals stayed in front the rest of the way, taking their largest lead (five points, 59-54) of the night on a layup from Schneider with just under two minutes remaining. 

Keuka pulled within three, 59-56, on a pair of made free throws by Chase Welch with 1:27 on the clock and had a chance to tie the game in the final minute, but a missed three-pointer by Lovelace with less than 30 seconds left ended any chance the Wolves had at forcing overtime. 

Schillaci made 1-of-2 foul shots with 11 seconds left to secure Fisher's 60-56 victory. 

Game Notes

• Michalski's 14 rebounds marked the most by a Fisher player this season. 

• Kwiatkowski's seven points marked a season high. 

• The Cardinals scored 24 points on 18 Keuka turnovers. 

Up Next

The Cardinals face Elmira College at 4 p.m. on Saturday inside Manning & Napier Varsity Gym.