Albany, NY— Ryan Henderson scored a game high 35 points to lead St. John Fisher College to a 98-83 Empire 8 men's basketball win at The Sage Colleges at Kahl Gym Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals improved to 13-6 overall and 8-2 in the league while the Gators are now 9-12 on the season, with a 5-7 Empire 8 record. 

 

Henderson was perfect on the night, making all 12 of his two point field goal attempts and all 11 of his free throw attempts. He also added five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sammy Robinson scored 16 points with five assists and Mark Valeriani added 15 points while Brendan rapper scored 10 with a game high eight rebounds. St. John Fisher shot 58% for the game and had a 37-35 rebounding advantage.

 

Sophomore center Joshua Gonzalez (Albany, NY/Canajoharie) led the Gators with 19 points and seven rebounds, making nine of his 10 shots. He also had seven rebounds. Sophomore guard/forward Anthony Mitchell (Bronx, NY/Salesian) scored 15 points and junior guard Christian Larson (Jacksonville, FL/Oakleaf) scored 12 while freshman guard Jalon Borders (Bartow, FL/Bartow) joined Gonzalez with a team high seven rebounds. Sage shot 44%.

 

The Cardinals jumped out to a 12-4 lead and led by 13 at 23-10 with 10:24 left in the first half. After a three pointer by freshman forward Stuart Phair (Canberra, Australia/Trinity Christian School) with 6:33 left, the Gators pulled to within seven at 29-22. But over the next 4:04, the Cardinals went on a 15-2 run to take a 44-24 lead. St. John Fisher led 47-33 at the half. Henderson, who made all six of his shots and was a perfect four-for-four at the line, had 16 points at the half. Sage was as close as nine twice, the last time coming with 16:31 remaining in the second half after two free throws by Borders. The largest lead for the Cardinals in the second half was 19 (73-54 with 12:07 left to play). St. John Fisher shot 68% in the second half.

 

Sage is back in action for another Empire 8 game at Utica College on February 5 at 7:30 p.m., while St. John Fisher travels to Alfred University also on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. in a league contest.