The Baruch College Bearcats defeated the Cardinals of St. John Fisher College, 67-63, in a first round game of the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa Tournament on Saturday night in Rochester, New York.

The Bearcats (7-3) will play Clarkson University in the championship game on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 pm on the campus of the weekend host St. John Fisher College. Clarkson (7-1) defeated Juniata, 70-66.

The loss by St. John Fisher is their first-ever in the holiday tournament they created in 2007.

The Bearcats trailed by three points at halftime (37-34), despite St. John Fisher shooting 50 percent (15-30). The second half was an entirely different story.

The Bearcats pressure frustrated St. John Fisher, who managed to only shoot 23 percent (7-31) in the second half, including 1-of-13 from three-point range.

Most importantly, they also limited them to only one basket scored in the final 3:40 to record a quality non-conference victory against an opponent from the upstate Empire 8 Conference.

Raymond De La Cruzscored a career-high 16 points, which included a pair of free throws with 2.2 seconds left to seal the victory. Matas Rascius (5 rebounds) and Fuat Yapar(5-6 fg, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) finished with 11 points each.

Joshua Vital rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points and five rebounds. Edward Roscignohad a solid all-around effort this evening with nine points, seven rebounds, two assists and one steal.

The bench was a factor again with 25 points compared to 11 by the opponent.

Jason Norsen led St. John Fisher (6-4) with 19 points (8-12 fg), nine rebounds and six blocked shots.