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PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Host St. John Fisher broke open a close game in the second half Tuesday by outscoring Nazareth 36-24 over the final 20 minutes to pull away for a 69-55 men's basketball victory over the Golden Flyers in Empire 8 Conference action.

Fisher improved to 9-7 overall and 5-2 in the E8. Nazareth slipped to 9-6 overall and 2-4 in conference games. The teams meet again Feb. 15 at Nazareth.

Junior Phil Scaffidi scored 14 points for the Golden Flyers, while Tyshun Stephens and Brad Ford each added 10. Greg Lothridge had four points and seven blocks.

After a slow start that saw the Golden Flyers fall behind 9-0 in the first two minutes, Nazareth rallied to close within 33-31 by halftime. Junior Phil Scaffidi had 10 first-half points to spearhead the Nazareth comeback.

In the second half, Stephens hit a free throw and Brad Ford followed with a three-pointer, then another basket by Stephens gave Nazareth its first lead of the game, 37-36, with 17:49 to go. The lead was short-lived as a basket by Jason Norsen put the Cardinals back in front.

Nazareth tied the score for the final time, 45-45, after a basket by Jason Corletta with 13:53 left. A 15-5 scoring run enabled Fisher to go up 10, 60-50, with 5:47 to go and Nazareth couldn't recover.

Stephens nailed a three-pointer to slice the lead to seven, 60-53, but Fisher's Jordan Koch scored and Brent Harder followed with a pair of free throws to push the lead back to double digits.

Jordan Gettings scored 15 points to lead a balanced Fisher attack in which five players reached double figures. Fisher made 46 percent of its shots (23 for 50), compared to Nazareth's 37.5 percent (21 for 56) and the Cardinals had a 38-32 rebounding edge with Will Cornett accounting for a game-high nine.

Nazareth is back on the road Friday for another key Empire 8 Conference game at Utica at 8 p.m.