St. John Fisher College leads the top-seeded men's basketball team 43-29 at halftime in their first round Empire 8 Championship game.

The Cardinals shot a blistering 54.8 percent in the first half, while Ithaca struggled, shooting just 27.3%. Freshman guard Will Cornett leads St. John Fisher with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, including two three pointers.

Junior center Jeff Bostic leads Ithaca with nine points and seven rebounds, but classmate and Empire 8 Player of the Year Sean Burton is struggling, having scored 10 points, but only shooting 2-of-10 from the floor. Burton and Bostic have 19 of the Bombers' 29 first half points.

The winner advances to play Nazareth College at 3 p.m. tomorrow in the Empire 8 Championship game.