PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Despite a career-high 35 points from sophomore
Jack Plesser, the Union College men's basketball team could not close out St. John Fisher University in regulation and struggled to get stops in overtime as the Cardinals pulled out a 92-90 victory over the Garnet Chargers on Tuesday night at Bobby Wanzer Court.
Plesser had an excellent outing to lead Union (2-1), hitting 12-of-17 shots from the field and 9-of-11 from the line on the way to his 35-point night. His total marked the first time a Union player went for 30 or more in a game since Kevin Weckworth '18 recorded the third of five 30-plus outings of his senior season with 38 points against Clarkson University on February 10, 2018.
Sophomore
Tanner Tedesco also reached double figures with 12 points to go with six assists and four rebounds. Fellow sophomore
Brendan Reid added 11 points and five caroms, while junior
Christian Dufort chipped in 11 points, six boards and four assists.
Connor Williams led five St. John Fisher (2-4) players in double figures with 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Joshua Lopez added the game's only double-double with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the home team.
The two teams alternated baskets for almost the entire first 10 minutes of the game, with neither team leading by more than a possession until five straight points put the Cardinals up 19-13 with 8:24 on the clock. An 11-3 run soon after gave SJFU its largest lead of the half at 30-20 with 4:45 left in the frame, but Tedesco scored six points as the Garnet Chargers got back to within five (36-31) at the break.
The visitors stayed in the game despite shooting 37.9 percent (11 of 29) from the field and allowing the Cardinals to connect at a 50.0 percent (16 of 32) clip.
Plesser almost single-handedly carried Union back into the lead to start the second half, scoring 17 of his team's first 23 points as the visitors stormed back to take a 54-47 lead with 12:19 remaining. The sophomore hit 6-of-7 shots from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, as well as all three free-throw attempts during the team's 23-11 run.
Union built its advantage up to as many as nine points on three occasions, the last coming on a layup by sophomore
Matthew Garside that made the score 68-59 with 5:55 on the clock. A 9-1 run got the home team back within a point with 3:28 to go, but Plesser stopped the run with a pair of free throws to cross the 30-point plateau for the first time in his career.
Two missed shots and a turnover allowed the Cardinals to get back within a point inside the final 45 seconds, but two Plesser freebies bumped the lead back up to 73-70 with 27 ticks left. Down by three, Eric Kegler missed a three-pointer but a huge offensive rebound by Lopez resulted in a second-chance three that Cole Thompson sunk to knot the score with eight seconds remaining. Needing to go the length of the floor to win the game, Tedesco missed a runner at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
The Garnet Chargers struggled to get stops in the extra period, as the Cardinals scored on eight of their first nine possessions of overtime to keep Union at bay. SJFU led by as many as seven with 23 seconds left before late three-pointers by Dufort and Tedesco got Union to the 90-point mark for the second time this season but never gave the team a chance to tie the score.
St. John Fisher hit 5-of-6 field goals and all eight free throws in overtime to secure the win, finishing the game shooting 53.8 percent (35 of 65) from the field and 81.0 percent (17 of 21) from the line. Union shot 29-of-64 (45.3 percent) from the field and 20-of-24 (83.3 percent) from the line, but hit only 12 of 33 long-range attempts.
Union will look to get back in the win column this weekend, when the team hosts the annual Sig Makofski Invitational beginning on Saturday with a 4 p.m. matchup against VTSU Lyndon at Viniar Athletic Center.
