The top-seeded St. John Fisher College men's basketball team fell short of coming back from a 20-point deficit, losing 69-64 to the Rochester Institute of Technology in the opening round of the Wendy's College Classic on Wednesday at Nazareth College.

Ranked as 10th in the latest D3hoops.com national poll, the Cardinals lost for the first time this season, falling to 3-1 overall.  As the tournament's No. 8 seed, the Tigers improved to 4-2 following the win and move on to Friday's semifinal round. Fisher will go on to play a consolation match against fourth-seeded the College at Brockport at 6 p.m. on Friday at Roberts Wesleyan College.

The Cardinals jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead in the opening minutes of the game as Tyler English tallied six of the team's first 10 points. Then with 13:41 remaining in the first half, a Chaz Lott layup put Fisher up 12-8 following an RIT four-point run.

That lead would not last very long however, as the Tigers caught fire and used a 14-0 run to take a 22-12 lead over the Cardinals with 8:29 left in the half.

Behind 12 points from Keegan Ryan in the last eight minutes of the first half, Fisher outscored RIT 20-17 to end the half and only trailed 39-32 at intermission.

RIT came out aggressive in the second half as a 13-0 run by the Tigers saw the Cardinals fall behind 52-32 with 14:19 left in the contest.

Not backing down, Fisher fought back as two-consecutive Zach Ottaway 3-pointers sparked an 11-0 run by the Cardinals to make it a 52-43 game in favor of RIT with just under 11 minutes remaining. Ottaway would go on to finish the game with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting to go along with five rebounds.

The Tigers would hit a bucket with just over 10 minutes remaining to make it 54-43 but the Cardinals were relentless, going on a 16-6 run over the next six minutes to take a 59-58 lead after Alex Sausville drilled a three-pointer with 4:46 remaining in the game.

The final four minutes would prove to be a back-and-forth affair as three lead changes and two ties left the contest tied 64-64 with only 43 seconds left. Not long after, RIT would hit a 3-point shot to take a 67-64.

Fisher saw a three-point attempt to tie the game with 13 seconds left rim out of the bucket and were forced to foul the Tigers, who hit both free throws and went on to grab the five-point victory.

Ryan paced the Cardinals, recording his second double-double of the season after posting 20 points and 10 rebounds in the game.

English finished the game with 13 points on five-of-nine shooting while Lott added nine points to go along with four assists and four rebounds.