The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College men’s basketball team finished the 2009-2010 regular season
with a 73-66 win over visiting Utica College on Friday. With the win, Fisher improves to 21-4 overall and 15-1 in the Empire 8.
Fisher, ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division III East Region for the third straight week and No. 23 in the d3hoops.com national poll, will return to action at 6 p.m. on Friday and will host the No. 4 seed in the semifinals of the Empire 8 Conference Championship. The Cardinals have won the Empire 8 title five times in the last seven years.
With the loss, Utica falls to 7-17, 2-13.
For Utica, James Paterson scored 21 of his team-high 26 points in the first half, while Patrick Goodman chipped in with 17.
The Pioneers, who started the game 8-for-11 from the floor, shot 51.6% from the field over the opening 20 minutes and led 37-36 at intermission.
Utica pushed its lead to six points at 45-39 with 16:30 left, but the Cardinals went on an 8-0 run over the next 58 seconds and took its first lead of game at 47-45 after back-to-back 3-pointers from Henderson.
Utica re-took the lead on a 3-pointer from Evan Taylor with 7:05 left, giving the Pioneers a 59-57 advantage. The Cardinals, however, answered with a 10-1 spurt over the next four minutes and led 67-60 with 3:13 remaining. The Pioneers pulled to within four points with 1:31 with, but Fisher sealed the win, going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the last 20 seconds.