St. John Fisher Defeats Utica in Overtime for Fifth Straight Empire 8 Men's Basketball Title
February 24, 2007
From St. John Fisher Sports Information Release
The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team defeated visiting Utica College 78-73 in overtime on Saturday to win the Empire 8 Conference Championship for the fifth straight year. Dan Mueller scored 26 points, while Justin Beigel added 16 points for the Cardinals, who will now play in the NCAA Division III Championship for the 13th time in the last 16 years.
Fisher, who led 26-21 at intermission, opened up the second half shooting 4-for-4 from 3-point range, including three from Mueller, and led by 11 with 16:37 left. Utica battled back and took its first lead since the opening moments with a free throw with 3:19 left from Ray Bryant.
Freshman Matt Newman made his first 3-pointer of the day on the ensuing possession, to give the Cardinals a two-point lead at 64-62 with 2:27 left, but Utica's Jack Lighthall tied the game moments later with a baseline jumper.
Fisher regained the lead with 1:10 left. Beigel missed a pair of free throws, but grabbed his own rebound and scored on a layup to give Fisher a 66-64 lead. Bryant made two free throws with 45 seconds to tie the game and both Fisher and Utica failed to score in their final possessions.
In overtime, Beigel drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key just 10 seconds into the extra period, and the Cardinals never trailed, improving to 17-1 in overtime games over the last 10 years.
From a Utica College Release
UTICA, NY – The No. 1 St. John Fisher College men’s basketball team won its fourth consecutive Empire 8 Conference championship defeating No. 2 Utica College at Manning-Napier Varsity Gymnasium 78-73 in overtime in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament finals Saturday afternoon. Fisher earned their 13th appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament with the win.
Utica split the season series with Fisher. The Pioneers defeated the Cardinals 62-54 in double-overtime at the Clark Athletic Center on January 20th. Fisher returned the favor last Friday defeating the Pioneers 79-66 en route to earning the number one seed in the conference tournament. Saturday’s game marks the seventh contest between the two teams in the past two seasons and the second consecutive meeting in the conference tournament finals. Fisher held a 5-1 series advantage over the past six meetings headed into the contest.
Senior guard Brian Collier (Norwich/Norwich), who led all scorers with 17 points in the Pioneers win over Ithaca Friday night, guided UC to an early 8-5 lead when he knocked down a 3-pointer at 14:26.
Dan Mueller (Waterloo/Waterloo) hit a three and Justin Beigel (Colerain/Cincinnati, OH) made a lay up as the Cardinals went on a 7-0 run and took a 12-8 lead with 10:37 left in the first half. Beigel and Mueller each tallied seven first half points.
UC tied the game up 17-17 when senior forward Jack Lighthall (Adirondack/Boonville) scored four straight points on two consecutive trips down the floor.
Fisher took a 26-21 lead into the locker room at the half after Mark Bearden (Aquinas/Rochester) grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it in as time expired.
The Cardinals hit three straight 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the second half and found themselves leading 40-29 at the 15:50 mark. Mueller came out of the gates hot in the second half scoring 13 points in the first 6:48. Freshman forward Pat Goodman (Whitesboro/Marcy) helped the Pioneers crawl back into the game cutting the Cardinals’ lead to three after hitting a three with 12:43 left.
Collier hit another one of his team-high four 3-pointers with just over eight minutes left to bring the Pioneers to with in one point of the lead. A Dan McSweeney (Marcellus/Marcellus) tip-in on the Cardinals next possession extended their lead to 54-51. Dour Herring (Poughkeepsie/Poughkeepsie) converted a 3-point play on the next trip down the court to tie the game up at 54-54.
Lighthall tied the game up at 61-61 with four minutes left, followed by a Bryant free throw and the Pioneers had their first lead since 12:55 in the first half. Lighthall led the Pioneers with 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting on the evening.
Beigel missed two free throws at 1:10 but got his own offensive board and laid it in to give Fisher a 66-64 lead. He finished the evening with 16 points and seven rebounds. Bryant hit two free throws with 45 seconds left to tie the game up and send it to overtime.
Beigel knocked down a three to open the scoring in overtime and Fisher never looked back outscoring UC 12-7 in overtime for the five point win.
Mueller led all scorers with 26 points on 5-of-11 shooting from behind the arc. Dan McSweeney chipped in with 10 rebounds and nine points, while Chris Baltz tallied 10 points on the evening.
Ray Bryant, the conference’s player of year, closed out his career with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Collier scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds in his final contest, while Pat Goodman went 2-of-3 from 3-point land off the bench for the Pioneers.
Fisher improved to 21-5 overall, while Utica drops to 19-7. The NCAA announces the Division III tournament teams and locations on Monday.