PITTSFORD, N.Y.  (February 16, 2013) – The 24th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team dropped its regular-season finale at St. John Fisher College, 82-73, Saturday afternoon. Despite the loss, the Ducks will host the Empire 8 Championship next Friday and Saturday at the Canavan Arena as the regular-season champ and No. 1 seed.
 
St. John Fisher improves to 10-4 in the conference (17-8 overall) and will be the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the E8 Tourney next week. The Cardinals will enter the postseason on an eight-game winning streak. Stevens drops to 21-4 overall and 11-3 in the Empire 8 and will take on Utica College or Nazareth College in Friday's semifinal in Hoboken at 6 p.m. Ithaca College and Fisher will play in the other semifinal at 8 p.m. All the action can be seen live at www.Empire8.TV.
 
Stevens jumped on top 4-0 2:48 into the game, but the hosts came back to open a 14-10 margin when junior guard Thad Wier (East Aurora, N.Y.) found sophomore forward Optimystik Kinard (South Ozone Park, N.Y.) for a layup with 12:33 remaining in the first half.
 
After the Ducks answered with back-to-back three-pointers from junior forward Max Schwartz (Bridgewater, N.J.) and freshman guard Evan Klimchak (Readington, N.J.) to regain the edge midway through the half, a 7-0 Fisher run put the hosts on top 21-16 at the 9:09 mark.
 
Sophomore forward Patrick Sabatino (Westfield, N.J.) and senior guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) slowed the hosts' momentum with three-point plays to get the Ducks within one at 23-22, but they were unable to get over the hump. The Cardinals extended the margin back to five and Stevens once again rallied to get within one following a layup from junior guard Matt Skrelja (Clark, N.J.) only to see the see-saw first half continue with the Cardinals ending the period with three-straight free throws to take a 36-31 lead into the locker room.
 
The second half took on a similar shape to the first with Fisher opening a 10-point lead (49-39) with 14:29 to play. Senior guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.) hit a three-pointer and Thompson converted a pair at the line to make it a five-point game with 10:42 on the clock, but Fisher had the answer, this time in the form of a triple from senior forward Grant Wrap (Hamburg, N.Y.). The Ducks fought within four points twice and then two points with 8:21 remaining, but they could not get the stops they needed to regain the lead.
 
After junior guard Andrew Meszaros (Phoenixville, Pa.) hit a layup to make it a 55-53 game, freshman guard Chaz Lott (Wynantskil, N.Y.) converted a layup of his own, and following a Jones bucket to cut the Cardinals advantage to three points with 4:38 to play, another Wrap three gave the guests a six-point cushion. Stevens would not get closer than five points the rest of the way.
 
Jones and Thompson scored 16 points apiece to lead the Ducks, with Sabatino pouring in 15. All three tallied a pair of helpers as Jones, Sabatino and sophomore forward Kenny Gan (Hillsborough, N.J.) all had four rebounds. Meszaros grabbed a team-high six boards and also had eight points in 20 solid minutes of the bench. Every Stevens player that played at least 20 minutes was whistled for four or more fouls.
 
The Ducks shot 45.5 percent from the field, 7-for-21 from three and went 16-for-17 at the line.
 
Fisher shot 49 percent from the field, 7-for-21 from three and connected on 27 of their 41 attempts from the line. The Cardinals had a 36-27 margin on the glass and were led by Lott with 18 points and seven rebounds.
 
Check back later to find out the matchups for next week's Empire 8 Championship hosted by Stevens at the Canavan Arena.
 
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