With the win, Fisher, the tournament’s top seed, advances to the finals and will play either Utica College or Ithaca College at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Fisher has won the two previous Empire 8 Conference Championships and won a league title in 2003.
O’Brien, who missed a jumper in the closing moments of regulation, penetrated from the top of the key to the foul line, before popping back and knocking down the go-ahead shot.
The Tigers’ Tyler Springer attempted a 30-foot, 3-pointer as time expired, but the shot was short, grazing the front of the rim.
Fisher (23-3), currently ranked 16th nationally and No. 1 in the NCAA Division III East Region, led by eight at 57-49 with under five minutes to go, but R.I.T. refused to go away.
Colin Roy’s layup with 3:28 left capped a 6-0 run and pulled R.I.T. to within two. After layups from O’Brien and Isaiah Smalt, R.I.T.’s Barrett Zeinfeld scored with 1:18 left to make it a two-point game. The Tigers then tied the game on two free throws from Tim Bacon with 31.2 seconds left.
O’Brien led four Cardinals in double figures with 19 points. Nick Bennett added 14 points, while Justin Beigel and Mike McGee each scored 10.
Bacon led the Tigers (14-12) with 23 points and eight boards, while Roy scored 10.