KEUKA PARK, N.Y. - The St. John Fisher men's basketball team lost to Keuka 77-69 at the JMW Recreation and Athletics Center on Saturday night, splitting the season series with the Wolves. The Cardinals fell to 11-13 (7-8 Empire 8), while the Wolves improved to 11-13 (8-7 Empire 8) and passed Fisher in the league standings with one game left for each team to play in the regular season. 

Fisher was led by sophomore guard Alex Hayes, who had an excellent all-around game, putting up 17 points on 6-11 shooting (3-6 from three), along with career highs with eight rebounds and five assists. Fellow sophomores Maximus Michalski and Andrew Violante were also meaningful contributors, Michalski with 12 points on 5-6 shooting and nine rebounds, and Violante with 10 points and a career high five steals. First-year guard Mekhi Gidney also scored in double figures for Fisher with 14 points to go with a block and a steal. 

Keuka was led by senior guard and Rochester native Lamar Lovelace, who used a 21-point performance to keep his scoring average over 20 on the season. Lovelace also chipped in eight rebounds, tied his season high with six assists, and two steals. Sophomore forward Kaleb Nutifafa and senior forward Marcus Reed added 15 points each, the forwards both shooting at least 60% from the floor. The Wolves in total shot nearly 44% on field goal attempts in the contest, to go along with an 80% mark from the free throw line. 

How It Happened

The Cardinals started hot on back-to-back buckets from Michalski to open the scoring. After Fisher set the tone, the teams went back and forth for the next 10 minutes. A triple from Hayes with 10:27 to go in the first would push the Cardinal lead to five, but this would be Fisher's largest lead of the day. 

About four minutes later, Reed converted on a jumper to give the Wolves a 26-24 lead, and this lead would hold strong for the remainder of the contest. A steal and score from Lovelace with 26 seconds to go in the first half pushed the Fisher deficit to 11, but senior guard Max Schneider hit a big three on a Hayes assist as the first half came to a close, making the score at the break 40-32 in favor of Keuka. 

The teams played evenly in the second half, both scoring 37 points, but the Cardinals could not overcome the deficit. Michalski scored the first five Cardinal points in the second frame, but Lovelace and Reed responded by putting up the Wolves' first seven points of the half on their own. Keuka earned their largest lead of the game, 12 points, after a Gidney layup for Fisher was bracketed by three-pointers from Lovelace and first-year guard Malik Junious-Fuller. 

The Cardinals fought back, cutting the deficit to one point on a Hayes bucket with 9:22 remaining, but the law firm of Lovelace, Nutifafa, and Reed thwarted the comeback attempt with eight consecutive points on the board for Keuka. Fisher remained in striking distance, but could not get back within one possession as the Wolves closed the game out with 14 points in the last six minutes, pushing the final score to 77-69.

Game Notes

• Keuka outscored the Cardinals 27-14 in points off turnovers.

• Fisher's bench contributed 30 points in the loss, 21 of which were in the first half.

• Violante scored at least 10 points for the fifth consecutive game, and for the 13th time this season. 

Up Next

The Cardinals return home to finish their regular season with a Battle of the Beaks contest against Nazareth on Tuesday, February 17. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.