GENEVA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher men's basketball team overcame a 17-point first-half deficit in a 65-60 non-league road victory over Hobart on Wednesday night inside Bristol Gymnasium.
The Cardinals improved to 2-1 and snapped a four-game losing streak to the Statesmen, who fell to 1-1. Hobart beat Fisher 93-58 last November.
The Cardinals struggled from the free-throw line but shot better than 40% overall and from 3-point range. They scored 27 points off 21 Hobart turnovers and outscored the Statesmen 51-29 after falling behind by 17 with 5:21 left in the first half.
Junior guard Andrew Violante and sophomore guard Mekhi Gidney led the Cardinals with 11 points apiece, and both did so while shooting 4-of-8 overall and 1-of-1 from three. Junior guard Jack Janes and senior guard Giovanni Schillaci, who knocked down three 3-pointers off the bench, each finished with nine points. Gidney, Schillaci and junior forward Jake Pangrazio each grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
Tre Paulfrey led Hobart with 14 points while shooting 5-of-12 overall, including 3-of-7 from three. Alex Moesch scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, and Allen Mordi had nine with a game-high 11 rebounds.
How It Happened
Hobart got off to a fast start, shooting 4-of-5 overall and 2-of-3 from deep while building a 10-2 lead over the first three minutes. Schillaci, Gidney and senior forward Christian Amica all drained threes during a 9-2 run that cut the Cardinals' deficit to 12-11, but the Statesmen quickly sparked another hot stretch. A 19-3 run that included seven points from Paulfrey gave Hobart a 31-14 advantage.
Fisher, which had gone ice cold (1-of-11) during that stretch, countered with a huge surge of its own and tied the game before the half ended. The Cardinals shot 8-of-9 overall and went perfect from three (3-of-3) while outscoring the Statesmen 19-2 over the final 4:35 of the first half. Janes scored seven of his nine points during the run, while Violante contributed five, Schillaci three, and Gidney and junior center Maximus Michalski two apiece. Schillaci tied the game at 33 with his second 3-pointer of the half with 36 seconds left.
The lead changed hands three times over the first nine-plus minutes of the second half. After falling behind by one, 47-46, Gidney scored five straight points with a layup and a spectacular and-one dunk to give the Cardinals a four-point lead at 51-47. Fisher stayed in front from there.
Hobart pulled within one, 51-50, with just more than seven minutes to play, but the Cardinals gave themselves some breathing room with a 7-0 push that made it 58-50 with 3:46 left. Junior guard Jordan Cain accounted for four of the points in that 3:22 span, making a pair of contested layups.
The Statesmen chipped away and cut their deficit to 60-57 with just under two minutes remaining on a pair of made free throws by Tucker Burnett. Gidney committed a turnover on the ensuing possession, which gave Hobart a chance to tie the game. Allen missed a clean look from three from the left wing, and Violante put Fisher ahead by five, 62-57, with a layup on the other end.
Hobart pulled back within three on a layup by Moesch with 37 seconds left and had another chance to pull even after Cain missed a pair of foul shots with 23 seconds remaining, but Paulfrey missed the potential tying shot from deep. The Cardinals made three of their final four shots from the free-throw line to secure the win.
Game Notes
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Junior forward Jake Pangrazio pulled down five rebounds and blocked three shots. Both marked career highs.
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Schillaci made three 3-pointers for the second straight game.
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Gidney has scored more than 10 points in each of Fisher's first three contests.
Up Next
The Cardinals face John Jay College at 5 p.m. on Saturday in the Oneonta Tournament.
