Box Score Rochester, N.Y. – The Nazareth men's basketball team closed out their regular season with a Battle of the Beaks matchup on the campus of St. John Fisher University on Tuesday night. Needing a win to secure the Empire 8 regular season title, the Golden Flyers ultimately fell short, 65-59. Nazareth is now 18-7 overall and 13-3 in league play, securing the No. 2 seed for the upcoming Empire 8 Championship. Nazareth will host No. 7 Kueka (9-7 E8) at 4 pm on Saturday, February 21.
How It Happened:
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The Golden Flyers finally got on the board over three minutes into the game, with Merritt Holly sinking a catch-and-shoot jumper from the elbow
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Leading 8-7, Fisher would explode on a 10-0 run to take control of the game early
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The Cardinals would hold onto their large lead for the remainder of the first half, leading by as many as 13 points and sending Nazareth to the locker room to regroup, down 38-27
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The scoring margin would stay wide for most of the half, with Nazareth only getting as close as 9 points from their opponents until the final 4 minutes
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Jaylen Savage kept Nazareth within striking distance during this stretch, scoring 9 consecutive points for his team to push the score to 52-43 for the Cardinals
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The Golden Flyers finally managed to find their rhythm in the dying minutes, going on a desperation 6-point run to get them within 4 with just over a minute remaining in the game
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The push would prove to be too late for Nazareth, as St. John Fisher held on to take the game by a score of 65-59
Game Notes:
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Merritt Holly led his team in both points (19) and rebounds (17)
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Jaylen Savage scored 13 points, 11 of them coming in the second half. He added 3 rebounds and a block
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Tyler Putney put up 10 points on 50% shooting, 2 rebounds and a steal
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Solomon McFarlane also scored 10 points, adding 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist
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Luke Insley had 8 assists, 3 rebounds and a steal
