The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College men’s basketball team rallied from an 11-point first half-deficit and
defeated host Nazareth College 64-58 on Tuesday night.
With the win, Fisher, ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division III East Region and No. 23 in the d3hoops.com national poll, improves to 20-4 overall and 14-1 in the Empire 8. It is the 12th time the Cardinals have won 20 or more games in a season since 1989 and the sixth time in the last eight years.
Nazareth led 33-22 with 2:01 left in the first half, but the Cardinals went on a 7-0 run to the end the opening period with sophomore Connor Henderson scoring all seven points during the spurt.
Fisher trailed by only four points at 33-29 at the end of the first half, despite committing 12 turnovers.
Fisher took its first lead of the game at 36-35 on a 3-pointer from
Will Cornett with 16:38 left and never trailed again.
Corey McAdam’s layup with 12:33 left made it 42-40 Nazareth, but Fisher scored the next nine points and took a double-digit lead at 51-40 with just under 10 minutes to go.
The Golden Flyers cut Fisher’s lead down to five with 1:31 left on one of two free throws from Jake Fladd at 60-55, but never pulled any closer.
Fisher will play its final regular-season game at 8 p.m. Friday and will host Utica College. The Cardinals will then host the Empire 8 Conference Championship on February 26th and 27th.