The fourth-seeded St. John Fisher Cardinals stunned the top-seeded men's basketball team, easily defeating them 88-68 in the first round of the Empire 8 tournament tonight.

The score was much closer than the game actually was, as St. John Fisher shot 54.7 percent from the field, while holding Ithaca to 33.8 percent from the floor. Junior point guard Sean Burton led Ithaca with 25 points, but only went 7-of-22 from the floor. Classmate and center Jeff Bostic finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but was slowed in the second half by an apparent lower leg injury.

St. John Fisher was led by senior forward Justin Beigel, who tallied 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Sophomore Chis Baltz also scored 18 points for the Cardinals.

St. John Fisher now advances to play Nazareth for the Empire 8 title and automatic NCAA bid at 3 p.m. tommorow.