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PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Senior Jake Burgio scored a game-high 23 points and eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career Tuesday as visiting Nazareth defeated rival St. John Fisher, 88-84, in a highly competitive Empire 8 Conference men's basketball game.

The victory was the eighth in a row for the Golden Flyers, who remain unbeaten in conference play at 6-0. They improved to 12-3 overall. St. John Fisher dropped to 10-5 overall and 5-2 in the E8.

Burgio entered the game Tuesday needing 19 points to become the 24th player in Nazareth history to reach 1,000 points. He scored 14 of those points in the first half and soared past the milestone in the second half when he buried a three-pointer from the top of the key with 1:16 to play. That basket gave the Golden Flyers a six-point lead, 83-77, and they were able to ice the game at the free-throw line as Tyler Stenglein sank two free throws with :47 left, Brendan Wind made another with :20 left and Burgio two more with 3.6 to go. He ended the game with 1,004 points.

Overall, Burgio made 9-of-14 shots from the field with the one clutch three-pointer. He also sank all four of his foul shots. He was one of four players to score in double figures for Nazareth. Stenglein added 14 with five assists. Wind had 12 with six assists and Cody Green came off the bench to score all 10 of his points in the second half to spearhead a Nazareth surge.

Nazareth trailed for much of the first half, but used an 8-0 run in the last two minutes to go up 43-39, before Fisher scored in the closing seconds to make it 43-41 at the half.

The second half started with an 11-2 scoring run for Fisher that put the Cardinals on top, 52-45. A three-pointer by Wind triggered another Nazareth scoring run that included all three of Green's three-point baskets during a four-minute stretch and ended with Nazareth up 60-54.

Nazareth's lead grew as large as nine points, 76-67, following a basket by Tyler Stenglein with 5:11 left. Another surge by the Cardinals, that included nine straight points, tied the score again at 76-76 with 2:30 left. On the ensuing possession, Stephen Gabel made a clutch three-pointer to give Nazareth the lead for good at 79-76.

Overall, Nazareth made 31 of 60 field goal attempts (51.7%) with 10 three-pointers. The Golden Flyers were 16 for 20 from the foul line (80%). Fisher also had four double-digit scorers, led by James Leone's 19 points and 10 rebounds. Stenglein also reached a milestone for the Golden Flyers by moving into fifth place on the all-time scoring list with 1,602 points. He trails only Hall of Famers Joe Canori (1,921), Corey McAdam (1,865), Chris Pegan (1,805) and Zach Wein (1,791).

Nazareth is on the road for two more Empire 8 Conference games this weekend. They visit Hartwick Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Utica Saturday at 2.