The Cardinals, who are now 26-0 and ranked No. 4 nationally, join Division I Illinois as the only two undefeated teams in all of college basketball.
The Cardinals started the game on a 10-1 run and opened up a 30-15 lead with 10:16 left in the first half, but Ithaca didn’t go away. The Bombers went on a 30-8 over the rest of the first half and the beginning of the second half to take a 45-38 lead with 16:47 left in the game. Jesse Roth helped the Bombers turn the game around, scoring 11 of the team’s 30 points during the run, and was the game’s high-scorer, tallying 23 points.
The two teams battled back and forth over the next 16 minutes, which included six ties and seven lead-changes.
Fisher looked to senior Jeff Sidney down the stretch as he scored 10 of his team-high 17 points in the second half, including six straight points over the game’s final 1:42. Sidney’s lay-up with 38 seconds left gave put the Cardinals up for good. He also put the game out of reach 20 seconds later with two free throws.
Junior forward Nick Bennett contributed on both ends of the court, recording a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Sean O’Brien and Charlie Zahn each scored nine points for the Cardinals. O’Brien also dished out five assists, while Zahn grabbed five rebounds.
Junior center Dan McSweeney scored five of Fisher’s first ten points and finished the game with seven points, five rebounds and four blocks.
Brian Andruskiewicz finished with 10 points and 10 boards for the Bombers (13-13), while Brad Clemente also scored 10.
Fisher will return to action at 1 p.m. Sunday in the Conference Championship game against R.I.T., who defeated Utica College 80-69 in today’s other semifinal game. Fisher has defeated R.I.T. in all three meetings this year