Men's Basketball | 1/25/2017 3:09:00 PM

ROCHESTER – The Nazareth College basketball squads are set to host East Avenue rival St. John Fisher College Thursday night for the first go around of the Battle of the Beaks.  The contest marks the first of a three-game homestand for both Golden Flyers squads.

Tickets are 5 dollars at the door with all of the proceeds going to the Golisano Children's Hospital, most notably children born prematurely.

The women will get the matchups started at 6 p.m. in Kidera Gymnasium.   Nazareth (7-9 overall, 3-4 Empire 8) has fallen to Fisher (7-9, 4-3) in each of the last three meetings, including twice last season.  The Cardinals defeated Nazareth 54-49 at Kidera Gymnasium a season ago, before defending their home court 61-58 later in the season. 

Head coach Kelly Dunne and the Golden Flyers snapped a four-game losing streak on Tuesday night with a 71-56 win over Elmira.  Senior Sam Sorge, who has scored in double figures in all 16 games this season, is coming off a career-high 35 points after connecting on 13-of-23 field goals against the Soaring Eagles on Tuesday.  The Webster native leads the Empire 8 in scoring average at 20.8 points per game.  On the other side of the floor, Caroline Robertson leads the way for Fisher, averaging 14 points per game. 

The men's teams will tip at 8 p.m. with Nazareth (10-6, 4-3) looking to hand Fisher (12-4, 7-0) its first conference blemish of the season.   In recent years Fisher has had the upper hand over the Golden Flyers, taking the last six contests – Nazareth last defeated Fisher 87-84 in the 2013-14 season. 

Nazareth, winners of four of its last five contests, handled Elmira a 78-45 Tuesday night.  Meanwhile, the Cardinals hit the century mark, 102-70, in a win over Houghton on Tuesday to push their win streak to seven games.  Nazareth guard Tyler Stenglein heads into the contest as the leading scorer in the conference, averaging 21.6 points per game – the reigning conference Rookie of the Year has scored 20 or more points in each of the last five contests.  Fisher will bring in a strong frontcourt, featuring senior forward Keegan Ryan, who is averaging 17 points per game and 8.9 rebounds.

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