Cardinals snap McDaniel's four-game winning streak

PITTSFORD, N.Y. - Michael Wopperer tallied 12 points to lead St. John Fisher to a 63-49 victory over McDaniel in the championship game of the 2009 Courtyard-Marriott Invitational in men's basketball action on Wednesday.

Karl Nelson (Owings Mills, Md./Park School of Baltimore) made it two straight games in double figures after entering the tournament with three points on the season, finishing with 12 points to pace the Green Terror (6-3), who had its four-game winning streak snapped in its final non-conference game of the season.

Jordan Koch added 10 points for the Cardinals (4-2), who shot 48.9 percent from the floor for the game compared to McDaniel's 35.0 percent.

Knotted at 12, the Cardinals tallied the game's next five points to take a 17-12 lead capped by a Will Cornett 3-pointer with 6:09 showing in the half.

A Steve Wilson (Lebanon, N.J./North Hunterdon) triple off the glass trimmed the deficit to two on McDaniel's next possession however St. John Fisher extended the lead out to five three more times en route to a 29-24 halftime advantage.

Before 14 seconds had elapsed in the second half, Cornett notched a steal and passed ahead for a Wopperer dunk that stretched the lead to 31-24.

A Wopperer free throw with 18:59 on the clock extended the lead to its largest at 32-24 before a Jarboe layup 19 seconds later gave the Green Terror its first points of the half.

A Koch 3-pointer from 28 feet pushed the Cardinals' lead to as large as 13 at 43-30 with 13:40 to play.

Keyed by five straight points from Michael McClain (Takoma Park, Md./Montgomery Blair), McDaniel counted with a 7-0 run over a 2-minute, 18-second span to pull within six but could get no closer over the final 10:57 of the game.

While McDaniel converted just one of its first 14 attempts, St. John Fisher built an 8-3 lead through the game's first 7:29.

A Wilson driving layup with 12:14 on the clock snapped a 6-minute, 7-second scoring drought that stretched back to Miguel Jones' (Baltimore, Md./North County) 3-pointer to open the game.

A Nelson 3-pointer from the left corner and Woody Butler (Smithsburg, Md./Middletown) free throw gave the Green Terror a 9-8 lead with 11:02 to play in the half.

Marcus Dyson (Scotch Plains, N.J./Union Catholic) finished with seven points and a career-high 11 rebounds while McClain and Jones added nine and seven points, respectively.

The Green Terror returns to action in Centennial Conference action at Washington (Md.) on Wednesday. Game time is 8 p.m.

-30-