PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Host St. John Fisher remained unbeaten in Empire 8 men's basketball action Thursday as the Cardinals rallied from a double-digit first-half deficit to defeat Nazareth, 81-74.

The Cardinals (10-1 overall, 10-0 E8) defeated Nazareth for the second time this season to clinch the top seed and a first-round bye for next week's conference tournament. Combined with a Utica victory over Elmira Thursday, the Golden Flyers dropped to 7-3 overall and 7-2 in the E8 and will be seeded third for the E8 Tournament. The Golden Flyers will host a first-round game Tuesday against sixth-seeded Elmira at a time to be determined. The semifinals are Friday, April 9 and the championship game is Sunday, April 11.

Nazareth was scheduled to travel to Alfred Saturday, but that game has been canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions.

On Thursday, sophomore Jordan Haggard equaled a career high by scoring 25 points, seniors Isaac Nelson and Kevin Underwood added 12 and 11 respectively, but Fisher was able to rally from a 42-34 halftime deficit.

Unlike the first meeting on March 16 at Nazareth in which the Golden Flyers shot just 6-for-33 from three point range, the Golden Flyers got off to a torrid shooting start as Haggard nailed five three-pointers in the first 14 minutes. It was his fifth three-pointer with 6:24 left in the half that gave the Golden Flyers their largest lead at 34-20. Haggard scored 19 of his points in the first 20 minutes.

The lead was still 14, 42-28, following a basket by Underwood with 2:37 to go, but Fisher scored the last six points of the half to close the gap.

In the second half, Fisher stayed close and finally went ahead on back-to-back three-pointers by Mark Valeriani. Nazareth regained the lead down the stretch as Stephen Gabel scored at the 8-minute mark. The score was still tied, 67-67, with as little as 5:20 to go after Haggard's final basket of the game. Fisher's Dan Cook hit two free throws and the Cardinals led the rest of the way.

Haggard's 25 points came on 10-for-15 shooting with all five three-pointers coming in the first half. In fact, Nazareth made eight of its 10 three-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Cook led all scorers and rebounders with 28 points and 13 rebounds.