The St. John Fisher College Cardinals, seeded No. 2 in the 44th annual Wendy’s College Classic,
fell to the host and number one seed Rochester 60-54 at U of R’s Palestra Saturday night. The loss put an end to Fisher’s nine-game win streak.
Fisher cut the lead down to as little as one off a 3-pointer from last year’s tournament MVP
Matt Newman with 14:35 left, but an imperative 5-0 run by Rochester in the second half would be a precursor to the eventual outcome. The Yellowjackets went up to 52-45 on the run, started off with a 3-pointer from Mike Labanowski, followed by a layup from Milan Moncrief, the Classic’s first freshman to be named MVP.
Rochester worked its way to a 58-50 lead with 36.3 to go, Fisher cutting that lead to 58-54 with 17.9 left off four points from
Jordan Gettings, who then missed an opportunity to cut the deficit to three on a missed free throw. Rochester’s John DiBartolomeo, an All-Classic First Team selection, sealed the win with two good free throws with seconds left to put the Yellowjackets up to 60.
Fisher trailed by a mere four points going into the first half. Gettings put the Cardinals on the board with his made foul shot a minute and a half into play, but an 8-0 run over the next four minutes would put Rochester up to a 12-3 lead, a lead it never lost. Newman cut the run short, taking it by himself. The teams shot nearly even for the first half, Fisher shooting 38.5% (10-for-26) from the floor, Rochester shooting 37% (10-for-27).
Newman, an All-Classic First Team selection, led Fisher with a double-double (19 points, 10 boards), followed by Gettings with 14 points.
Jordan Koch, who tallied six points in the title game to follow his 25-point game on Friday night against RIT, was also named to the All-Classic First Team.
Rochester was led by Moncrief with 18 points, followed by Nate Novosel with 10 points. The Yellowjackets now own the record for most Classic wins with 10, edging out Fisher, who has nine.
Fisher returns to conference play this Tuesday, when it hosts Elmira College on Tuesday at Manning & Napier Varsity Gym. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00.