ROCHESTER, NY – A rare cold shooting night cost Hartwick's men's basketball team on Friday night in an 81-72 loss at St. John Fisher's Manning & Napier Gym. The Hawks, who entered the game averaging just under 11 three-point baskets per game, were only able to make six on the night and they shot a season-low 20% (6-for-30) from beyond the arc in the game.
            With the result, Fisher captures the Empire 8 regular season title and will host next weekend's playoffs. Hartwick (16-8, 11-4 E8), which falls a game behind Nazareth for second place in the standings, will play the Golden Flyers in next Friday's semifinals.
            Jake Sinicki (Endicott, NY/Maine Endwell) tied for a game-high with 22 points for the Hawks. He also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Justin Pratt (North Kingstown, RI/North Kingstown) contributed 13 points and three treys.
            Trevor Norton (Mullica Hill, NJ/Ursinus College) added 10 points and eight rebounds. Matt Wilson (Shelton, CT/Franklin & Marshall College) chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds. Wilson also had one block to tie for the Hartwick single-season record with 47.
            The Hawks would struggle in the first half as they connected on only 30% from the floor on 10-of-33 shooting. They would make just 1-of-13 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
            A 14-0 Fisher run would turn a three-point edge into a 17-point lead, 23-6, with 12:57 left in the first half. 'Wick would trim the Cardinal lead to nine points twice the rest of the way before SJFC took a 40-28 lead into the locker room.
            The Cardinals maintained their lead through the first 10 minutes of the second half before a Tyler Farrell three-pointer handed the hosts their biggest lead, 63-42, with 10:45 left in the contest.
            Ten straight points from Hartwick, including threes from Pratt and Sinicki, made it an 11-point game, 68-57, with 6:45 left. A Sinicki layup got the Hawks even closer, 71-63, with under four minutes showing on the clock.
            A Tyler English three-pointer with 1:31 left pushed the lead back to double digits, 77-65, before an old-fashioned three-point play from Brandon LaForest (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) cut it to an eight-point game, 77-69, with 68 ticks remaining. It would mark the Hawks' final field goal as the Cardinals connected on 4-of-6 from the line to close out the victory.
            English ended the night with 22 points for St. John Fisher. Keegan Ryan added 14 points and Tyler Hart scored 13. LaForest finished with nine points for the Hawks.
            Hartwick can clinch the No. 2 seed tomorrow with a victory over Ithaca and a Nazareth loss to Utica. The last time the Hawks and Bombers played, IC came away with a 117-115 double overtime win at Lambros Arena.