BUFFALO, NY – Sophomore Lovell Smith (Buffalo, NY/McKinley) recorded a career-high 19 points and six rebounds, but a slow start from Buffalo State (1-4) allowed St. John Fisher (4-2) to finish with an 87-74 victory on Saturday afternoon in Sports Arena.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 4-0 lead as the Bengals struggled to finish in the first three minutes of play. A layup from Chris Thompson (Far Rockaway, NY/Channel View) gave Buffalo State its first points of the game. Smith hit a jumper to tie the game up at 15:51, but St. John Fisher answered back with a 22-9 run to take a nine point lead with just over 11 minutes to go in the first half.

The Bengals would cut the Cardinals lead to two points on two different occasions, but St. John Fisher quickly pushed its lead back out to seven both times and took a 41-34 lead into halftime.

In the second half, St. John Fisher managed to push its lead out to 15 points 4:40 into play.

Buffalo State chipped away at the Cardinals lead a few times, getting the deficit to only five points on three different occasions, but could not find the points they needed to take the lead.

St. John Fisher took their biggest lead, 16, with 2:46 left in the game after a 15-4 run and remained in control to the end.

The Bengals finished the game shooting 38.9% (28-72) from the floor and 64% (16-25) from the free throw line. Buffalo State struggled from long range, only shooting 14.3% (2-14). The Cardinals shot a strong 57.7% (30-52) from the floor, 37.5% (3-8) from long range and shot 63.2% (24-38) from the free throw line. 

Smith led the way offensively for the Bengals, while Thompson added 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Roderick Epps (Uniondale, NY/Uniondale) added 10 points and Derrick Fernandez (Bronx, NY/Thomas Jefferson) chipped in seven points and three steals.

Buffalo State returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 27 against Penn State Mont Alto at 3 p.m. for the Montclair State Tournament.