Box l Updated stats
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Visiting St. John Fisher overwhelmed Nazareth 78-50 in a men's Empire 8 basketball game on Tuesday evening. Senior Tyshun Stephens finished with a game-high 20 points for the Golden Flyers. The Cardinals had five players score at least 11 points to earn the victory.

Following the loss, Nazareth slips to 14-9 overall and 6-6 in Empire 8 games. Fisher improves to 15-8 overall and 8-4 in conference contests with the win.

The Golden Flyers stand in a tie for fourth place with Utica in the conference standings. Utica and Nazareth each play Elmira and Ithaca this weekend to finish the regular season. If the Golden Flyers defeat Elmira and Utica loses to Ithaca on Friday evening, then Nazareth clinches the fourth seed in the conference tournament.

With the Pioneers and Golden Flyers splitting their games against each other, the next tiebreaker is record against the highest seeds in the conference. Each team lost twice to Stevens, who currently is in first. Ithaca is second in the standings, and Nazareth won their first game against the Bombers. Utica lost its first contest against Ithaca this season.

Nazareth scored five of the first eight points of Tuesday's game following a three-point basket by junior Scott Hayford and a two-point bucket by classmate Brad Ford. Fisher answered with a 20-6 scoring run in roughly seven minutes to take the lead. The Cardinals extended their lead to 19 points before Stephens connected with a three-point buzzerbeater to bring Nazareth within 16 points, 43-27, at the break.

In the second half, the Cardinals continued to stretch their lead. A 16-5 scoring run gave Fisher a 59-32 advantage 8:17 into the period. Fisher took a game-high 33-point lead about three minutes later. The Cardinals took advantage of 25 points off turnovers and 29 points from their bench to build the insurmountable lead.

The Golden Flyers entered the contest shooting nearly 44 percent from the field for the season. Fisher held Nazareth to under 33 percent (18-55) in Tuesday's game. The Cardinals also finished with a 36-30 advantage in total rebounds to collect additional possessions. Brad Ford and Jason Norsen each collected 10 rebounds to lead their respective teams.

Fisher finished Tuesday's game shooting almost 52 percent (27-52) from the field, including 50 percent (9-18) from beyond the arc. The Cardinals began Tuesday connecting on about 45 percent of their field goal attempts.

In Nazareth's January victory over Fisher, the Golden Flyers shot almost 46 percent from the field and held the Cardinals to under 39 percent on their field goal attempts.

Following Stephens in scoring, Hayford and Ford each had nine points. The remaining Golden Flyers combined to score 12 points. Freshman Steven Soltysik recorded his first-career field goal with a layup in the waning moments of the contest.

Chaz Lott tallied a team-high 17 points for the Cardinals. Optimystik Kinard, Norsen, Tyler Hart, and Thad Weir also finished in double figures for the Cardinals' balanced attack. Fisher also converted 15-19 (79 percent) of their free throw opportunities.

The Golden Flyers' crucial game against Elmira begins at 8 p.m. on Friday at the Kidera Gymnasium. Nazareth travels to Ithaca for another critical conference game on Saturday to close the regular season.