ONEONTA, N.Y. – Andrew Violante went a perfect 7-of-7 from the field for a team-high 16 points, and the St. John Fisher men's basketball team never trailed in an 81-52 win over John Jay on Saturday at the Oneonta Tournament inside Dewar Arena.
The Cardinals improve to 3-1 with their third straight win.
How It Happened
Violante opened the scoring with a layup 41 seconds in. After John Jay tied it at 2-2, the only tie of the game, Fisher scored the next nine points. Mekhi Gidney had a layup and a jumper during the run, and Violante's 3-pointer at the 13:43 mark made it 11-2.
Giovanni Schillaci came off the bench and hit two 3-pointers in a 1:25 span, pushing the lead to 19-8 with 9:24 left in the half. John Jay answered with a 9-3 run to get within 22-17 at 5:56, but Fisher closed the half on a 15-6 run. Violante started it with a steal and a fast-break layup. Christian Amica followed a steal with a 3-pointer, and Violante hit a transition 3 off a Jonathan McCaffrey steal to make it 35-20 with 2:13 left. Violante had 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting in the first half, and the Cardinals led 37-23 at the break.
John Jay got within 41-29 early in the second half. A Fisher timeout came at 17:31, and then the Cardinals took control. Jordan Cain scored on a layup and a jumper, and Fisher then scored 14 straight points. Violante had a putback, Gidney scored four points, Amica hit a jumper, Cain added another layup, and Maximus Michalski finished the run with a layup that made it 57-31 at 13:03.
John Jay got no closer than 19 the rest of the way. Griffen Hopkins scored all nine of his points in the final 5:55, including a 3-pointer and a layup 3 seconds apart. Jake Pangrazio hit a 3-pointer with 3:23 left that gave Fisher its largest lead at 79-50.
Gidney finished with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and a team-high six rebounds. Amica scored 10 points, Hopkins went 4-of-4 at the free-throw line, and Michalski added eight points on 4-of-7 shooting. McCaffrey went 2-of-2 from the field and 2-of-2 at the line for six points, with a block and a steal.
Fisher shot 53.7% from the field (29-of-54) and 41.2% from 3-point range (7-of-17). John Jay shot 38.2% from the field and 4-of-23 from beyond the arc. Tiziah Spears led John Jay with 14 points.
Game Notes
- Fisher is 3-1 to start a season for the first time since 2020-21.
- The 29-point margin is Fisher's largest of the season. Its 81 points tie the season high it set Nov. 8 against Washington and Lee.
- John Jay's 52 points are the fewest Fisher has allowed this season. The Cardinals have held three straight opponents to 62 points or fewer. Opponents are shooting 38.1% from the field and 29.2% from 3-point range against Fisher this season.
- Fisher's bench outscored John Jay's, 40-10. The Cardinals also held edges in points in the paint (34-22) and rebounds (33-29).
- Schillaci is 8-of-14 (57.1%) from 3-point range this season and leads the team in made 3-pointers.
Up Next
The Cardinals close out the Oneonta Tournament on Sunday. The opponent and tip time are TBA.
