ROCHESTER, NY - The Utica University men's basketball team suffered its first Empire 8 loss of the season in a 65-63 defeat at St. John Fisher University on Tuesday evening. 
 
Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) led the team with both 22 points and nine rebounds. Dayion Thompson (Beacon, NY/Kimball Union Academy) was the only other Pioneer with double figures as he ended the evening with 13 points. Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) also added nine and eight points, respectively. As a team, the Pioneers shot 42.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three-point and were outrebounded 41-28. 
 
Daniel Cook powered St. John Fisher with a game-high 26 points. The Cardinals did not take their first lead of the game until 1:40 left in the game after trailing by 10 points twice in the game. The hosts also corralled 12 offensive rebounds to Utica's five while posting 13 second chance points to help complete their comeback. 
 
Utica started red-hot with a 10-2 lead through the first 3:30 of the game. From there, the team held a steady lead between three and seven points before opening up its advantage to 10 with just under five minutes left in the half. From there, the Cardinals went on a 12-3 run to cut its deficit to one going into halftime. 
 
The Pioneers maintained their lead coming out of the break until they jumped out by 10 points again with under 14 to go. However, Fisher would once again hang around long enough to make it a one point game with 4:47 left. 
 
After the Cardinals went on to tie the game from the free throw line, Justice Brantley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) nailed a clutch corner three to bring Utica back ahead. Fisher responded once again on a three before a pair of free throws gave the team its first lead of the game at 61-59. 
 
On the ensuing trip down the court, Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) nailed a contested five-footer to draw even again Before Fisher regained the lead at the free throw line again with 48 seconds left. The Pioneers turned the ball over as the team quickly turned to fouls. 
 
The Cardinals missed the front end of a one-and-one which allowed the rebounder, Brantley, to find Dayion Thompson (Beacon, NY/Kimball Union Academy) in transition who then dished the ball down to Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) for the fast break layup to tie the game. 
 
However, Fisher was sent to the line again with six seconds to play and while the front end of the one-and-one was good, Ryan Gentile missed the second which gave Utica a chance to win. Out of timeouts, the Pioneers were issued a technical foul after calling for one, allowing the Cardinals to head to the line for two free throws. The team once again went 1-for-2 to claim a 65-63 lead. 
 
Inbounding from the backcourt sideline, Brantley received the pass and while having a decent look, the senior missed the contested game-winning three as Fisher closed out its upset comeback win. 
 
Utica (18-3, 13-1 Empire 8) will look to bounce back on Friday when the team travels to Alfred University at 7 p.m.