SUNY Brockport will return to the Palestra on Saturday to play Roberts Wesleyan for third place in the tournament at 3 p.m.
After a quick Cheves lay up gave Brockport the first points of the contest right off the opening tip off, Dan McSweeney connected for Fisher to tie the game, and spark a 25-9 run for the Cardinals, capped by a Sean O'Brien layup with 12:36 left in the half for a 25-11 lead.
Just 10 seconds later, Dan Rubertone responded by hitting a pair of free throws to begin an 11-2 Brockport run to cut the deficit to 27-22. After St. John Fisher stretched the lead back to 11 points, 45-34, with 4:29 remaining, Brockport closed the half on a 9-2 run, closing to within 47-43 on a Mychal Wilkes three-pointer with five seconds left in the half.
The Golden Eagles extended their run to open the second half, scoring four of the first six points, pulling to within 49-47, but the Cardinals used a 10-2 run to extend their lead to 59-49 with 15:07 left in the contest. The teams traded baskets until Brockport mounted a final rally with the Cardinals holding a 72-62 edge with 10:13 left. SUNY Brockport mounted a 10-4 run fueled by five points from Cheves to close the gap to four, 76-72, but could come no closer, as Fisher pulled away for the win.
SUNY Brockport converted on 24 of their 30 attempts from the free throw line, including 13-of-17 trips to the charity stripe in the opening half. The Cardinals went 13-of-18 from the free throw line. Fisher held a 50.7-to-43.1 percent edge in shots from the field, with both teams hitting 50 percent of their shots in the first half.
Cheves finished with 19 points, two blocks and five rebounds, while Ben Bellucci and John Rother finished with 18 points each. Bellucci also had three assists, eight rebounds and a pair of steals, while Rother had three blocked shots. Wilkes chipped in eight points and three assists. Kenny Amparo tied Bellucci for the team lead on the boards, snatching eight rebounds.
Sean O' Brien paced the Cardinals offensively with 24 points and five assists
Newspaper Box Score SUNY Brockport vs St. John Fisher 01/13/06 6:15 p.m. at Rochester,NY: U. of Rochester's Palestra At Rochester,NY: U. of Rochester's Palestra ST. JOHN FISHER 94, SUNY BROCKPORT 78 SUNY BROCKPORT (5-6) CHEVES, Jerry 6-16 5-7 19; ROTHER, John 6-10 6-8 18; BELLUCCI, Ben 8-13 2-2 18; AMPARO, Kenny 2-4 4-5 8; WILKES, Mychal 2-8 2-2 8; RUBERTONE, Dan 0-4 5-6 5; ZENKEL, Josh 1-3 0-0 2; KAYS, Eamon 0-0 0-0 0; MACK, Ian 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 24-30 78. ST. JOHN FISHER (10-2) Sean O'Brien 9-12 5-5 24; Mike McGee 7-14 0-0 19; Nick Bennett 4-10 4-5 13; Justin Beigel 5-13 2-3 12; Dan McSweeney 4-4 0-2 8; Pete Gillett 4-8 0-0 8; Raymie Auman 2-5 2-3 6; Adrian Fenyn 2-4 0-0 4; Isaiah Smalt 0-3 0-0 0; Dan Mueller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-73 13-18 94. SUNY Brockport................ 43 35 - 78 St. John Fisher............... 47 47 - 94 3-point goals-SUNY Brockport 4-18 (CHEVES, Jerry 2-7; WILKES, Mychal 2-7; BELLUCCI, Ben 0-2; ZENKEL, Josh 0-1; ROTHER, John 0-1), St. John Fisher 7-23 (Mike McGee 5-11; Nick Bennett 1-4; Sean O'Brien 1-3; Pete Gillett 0-3; Raymie Auman 0-2). Fouled out--SUNY Brockport-None, St. John Fisher-None. Rebounds-SUNY Brockport 31 (AMPARO, Kenny 8; BELLUCCI, Ben 8), St. John Fisher 44 (Justin Beigel 9). Assists-SUNY Brockport 10 (BELLUCCI, Ben 3; WILKES, Mychal 3), St. John Fisher 19 (Sean O'Brien 5). Total fouls-SUNY Brockport 16, St. John Fisher 21. A-806 Semifinals of the 40th Annual JPMorgan Chase Scholarship Tournament Fisher advances to the finals and will play UR/RWC winner at 8 p.m.