Top-seeded St. John Fisher College advanced to the finals of the Empire 8 Conference Championship, as the Cardinals rallied for a 90-75 win over No. 4 Ithaca College on Friday night at Fisher's Manning & Napier Varsity Gym.
 
With the win, Fisher, ranked 24^th nationally and No. 1 in the NCAA Division III East Region, improves to 22-4 overall and will play either No. 2 Alfred University or No. 3 Hartwick College at 4 p.m. on Saturday with an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship on the line.
 
The Cardinals, who are now 9-1 all-time in Empire 8 Championship semifinals, will play for their first Empire 8 title since 2006-07.
 
Fisher led 39-35 at the half, before Ithaca tied it up at 39s in the opening moments. The Cardinals, however, responded with a 20-3 run over the next six minutes to take control.
 
Chaz Lott, who scored a 17 of his season-high 23 points in the second half, started the pivotal run with a 3-point play and added three layups during the stretch.
 
The Cardinal led by as many 18 points with 10 minutes to go, but Ithaca used a 12-0 run over the next four minutes to cut the lead down to single digits.  The Bombers pulled to within seven points with three minutes left, but Fisher sealed the win at the foul line, going 9-for-10 from the charity stripe in the closing moments.
 
Ithaca jumped out to a 12-7 lead, but Fisher answered with a 9-0 run, capped by a deep 3-pointer from Stefan Bock to give Fisher its first lead of the day at 16-12 eight minutes into the game.
 
The two teams exchanged leads eight times over the next five minutes before Fisher took the lead for good on a 7-0 spurt on back-to-back layups from Lott and a 3-pointer from freshman Alex Sausville to put the Cardinals up 35-26 with 4:03 left in the half.
 
Five players finished in double figures for the Cardinals with Lott's 23 leading the way.  He also added a team-high four assists.
 
Bock totaled 12 points and nine boards, while Keegan Ryan and Tyler Hart each chipped in with 11.  Adam Ambielli added 10 points, while Optimystik Kinard (10 rebounds, nine points) was one point shy of his third career double-double.
 
As a team, Fisher shot 50% from the floor (16-for-32 in both halves) and enjoyed a 36-31 edge in rebounds.