ROCHESTER, NY – Host St. John Fisher College started the game shooting 75% from the floor and barely cooled off from there as the Cardinals defeated the Hartwick College Hawks 91-63 on Saturday at Bobby Wanzer Court in Rochester. With the result, Hartwick falls to 11-7 overall and 3-4 in the Empire 8 Conference. Fisher is now 11-6 and stays atop the league standings at 6-0.
            The Cardinals raced out to a big advantage in the game as they made nine of their first 12 shots through the opening 8:12 and they led the Hawks by a count of 25-12. Hartwick had trailed by only three, 10-7, but a 15-5 run put some separation between the two teams. The Fisher advantage swelled to as many as 19 points on a couple of occasions before the Hawks scored eight of the final 11 points of the half to hit the break down 49-35.
            The hosts shot 69% (18-for-26) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes and 58.3% (7-of-12) from three. The Hawks managed to hit 42.3% (11-for-26) as a group and 41.7% (5-for-12) from deep. Pat Garey (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) had 16 points and he made 3-of-4 from three-point range for Hartwick. Tommy Kelly (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) dropped in 10 with a pair from distance.
            The Hawks kept the deficit to around 15 points for the first part of the second half. Fisher made it a 20-point game at the 7:26 mark and the Cardinals maintained at least a 20-point edge the rest of the way.
            Fisher made 58% of its shots in the second half to finish with a blistering 63.5% (33-for-52) from the floor as a team. The Cardinals also made 12 three-pointers on a 57.1% (12-for-21) tilt. They would force the Hawks into 17 turnovers which they would turn into 29 points.

            Hartwick finished at a rate of 42.6% (23-for-54) from the field and 30.4% (7-of-23) from three. Garey scored a game-high 20 points for the Hawks with Kelly not far behind with 18. The pair combined for all seven of 'Wick's treys. Austin Haskell (Kirkwood, NY/Susquehanna Valley) chipped in eight points. He tied Bobby Connors (Rockville Centre, NY/Chaminade) for the team-high in rebounds with five.
            Hartwick plays its third consecutive conference road game on Tuesday night at Utica. Game time is 5:30 p.m.
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