VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The St. John Fisher men's basketball team rode a balanced scoring attack to an 81-62 victory over Washington & Lee on Sunday afternoon in the TowneBank Tip-Off Tournament consolation game at Batten University's TowneBank Arena.
The Cardinals (1-1) led by 15 at halftime and continued running away from the Generals (0-2) in the second half. St. John Fisher shot 47.3% from the field, nearly 40% from 3-point range, 80% from the foul line and got 48 points from its bench.
Led by junior guard Jordan Cain and sophomore guard Mekhi Gidney, the Cardinals had four players score in double figures. Cain shot 5-of-8 overall (2-of-3 from three) and 4-of-5 from the foul line for 16 points, while Gidney shot 4-of-10 overall (2-of-4 from three) and 5-of-6 from the foul line for 15 points. Senior guard Giovanni Schillaci knocked down a team-high three triples on his way to 13 points, and junior guard Andrew Violante finished with 12.
Connor Amorosi and Alex Fannéy each scored 14 points to lead the Generals. Fannéy made a game-high four 3-pointers.
How It Happened
After a back-and-forth start that had Washington & Lee in front by three, 21-18, the Cardinals went on a 17-0 run to take a 35-21 lead. Schillaci made a pair of 3-pointers for six points during that stretch, while Cain and Violante each contributed five.
St. John Fisher shot 6-of-13 overall (5-of-10 from three) and outscored the Generals 22-4 over the final 7:10 of the half to take a 40-25 lead into the break. Cain scored 14 of his 16 points in the first 20 minutes of action.
The Cardinals maintained a 10- to 14-point lead in the early stages of the second half before pushing their lead to 19, 62-43, on a 3-pointer by senior forward Christian Amica and a layup by junior guard Jake Pangrazio. Fisher pushed its lead to a game-high 25 points, 77-52, with a 12-4 run that included four points apiece from Violante and junior guard Jack Janes later in the half.
Fisher shot 26-of-55 (51.8%) overall and 11-of-13 (84.6%) from the foul line in the second half.
Game Notes
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Gidney, who scored a game-high 22 points in Fisher's season opener against Batten on Saturday, was named to the TowneBank Tip-Off All-Tournament Team. Over two games, he scored 37 points while shooting 54.2% from the field, 60% from 3-point range and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. He also had five rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists.
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Cain led the Cardinals with four steals.
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Senior Jonathan McCaffrey led St. John Fisher with six rebounds.
Up Next
The Cardinals face Hobart at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Geneva, NY.
