BUFFALO, NY - The Medaille Mavericks used a strong second half to close the gap after being down by 16 at halftime, but fell just short in a (85-82) loss to St. John Fisher Saturday afternoon.
The game was close throughout the first part of the opening half, with the Cardinals only leading by three points midway through. In the final four minutes of the first half, the Cardinals would go on a 13-3 run, putting themselves up 45-29 going into halftime.
At the half, both teams were shooting the ball very well with the Cardinals hitting on 57.1% (16 of 28) from the field while the Mavericks were hitting on 52.1% (12 of 23) from the field. Rebounds were mostly even as well with the Cardinals pulling down 14 first half boards compared to the Mavericks 13.
The second half was a different story. While both teams did come out slow, the Mavericks erupted for 53 second half points that helped close the deficit. It helped that they hit on 85.7% (6 of 7) of their attempts from behind the arc. Chris Willingham hit on all four of his 3-point attempts in the second half on his way to (14) second half points. He finished with (16) points total in the game.
In the end, the gap was too much to overcome as the Mavericks would pull within two possessions a few times, but could never get any closer than that until the final bucket of the game.
Leading the Mavericks offensively was Robby Seyler who finished the game with (18) points along with (6) rebounds and (3) assists. Ryan Grandits chipped in with (16) points as well while Alex Baron ended with (11) points on the game.
The Mavericks were once again outscored in the paint and with points off the bench for the second straight game. The Cardinals finished with 34 points in the paint compared to the Mavs 30 and the Cardinals bench added 39 points while the Mavericks bench finished with 24.
The Mavs (0-3) will host SUNY Geneseo on Monday at 7 p.m. in the Sullivan Center.