Box Score Nov. 13, 2007
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After playing solid defense the first two games of the year, holding opponents to an average of 63.5 points per game and 39.6% shooting from the field, the Fordham Rams saw that all change in the first half of the championship game of the O'Reilly Auto Parts/CBE Classic against the University of Missouri. The Tigers came out on fire, hitting eight of their first eleven field goals on offense and forcing the Rams into 15 first half turnovers as Missouri built a 53-23 halftime lead.
The good news for Fordham was that the Rams didn't let the poor first half effect their second half play, outscoring Missouri 32-26 in the period while holding the Tigers to shooting 34.4% from the field. But in the end it wasn't enough as Fordham fell to Missouri, 79-55, in the Mizzou Arena.
With the loss, the Rams fall to 2-1 on the year while Missouri goes to 2-0.
"I'm very happy with the way we played in the second half," said head coach Dereck Whittenburg. "Unfortunately we got off to a bad start and couldn't stop the bleeding. Missouri is a very good team and could easily be a top-20 team this year."
Down 53-23 at the break, Fordham opened the second half with an 11-4 spurt to cut the deficit to 23, 57-34, on a Brenton Butler three-pointer just under seven minutes into the half.
The Rams would get the Missouri lead down to 21 four times over the next eleven minutes, the last at 65-44 on a Marcus Stout free throw with 6:10 remaining before the Tigers increased their lead back to 25, on a pair of jumpers over the next 38 seconds.
Fordham again trailed by 25, 71-46, less than a minute later when the Rams used a 7-1 run to cut the deficit to 19, 72-53, on a Butler three-pointer with 3:34 left but that was as close as the Rams would get.
The first half was all Missouri as the Tigers shot a sizzling 61.1% (22-36) in the period, including 6-for-11 from behind the three-point arch, while turning 15 Fordham turnovers into 21 points.
The Rams were just the opposite, scoring only five first half baskets on 20 shots.
Missouri connected on six of its first eight shots as the Tigers jumped out to a 16-7 lead 4:33 into the game behind six points from Matt Lawrence, on a pair of three-pointers.
The Tigers built the lead up to 15 on a J.T. Tiller jumper with 10:15 left in the half before the Rams took advantage of some free throws to cut the deficit back to 11, 30-19, following a pair of Butler charity shots with 8:47 remaining.
A Tillman three-pointer ignited an 11-0 Missouri run as the Tigers took a commanding 44-19 lead 4:30 later before Marcs Stout stopped the run with a pair of free throws for the Rams.
But the Tigers closed out the half with a 9-2 spurt to take the 53-23 lead at the break.
Stout and Bryant Dunston each finished with 13 points for the Rams with Dunston adding nine rebounds and Stout five. Mike Moore added ten points for the Rams, the second straight double figure scoring game for the freshman guard.
The Rams will next be in action on Friday, November 16th as they travel to Syracuse to take on the Syracuse Orange in the Carrier Dome at 7:00 PM.
Notes
The game was the first between Fordham and Missouri on the hardwood...The two schools did meet three times on the gridiron, with the Rams winning all three, including a 2-0 win in the 1942 Sugar Bowl...Senior guard Kevin Anderson's father, Mark, was a three-year letter winner with the Missouri basketball program from 1974-76, playing for legendry Missouri head coach Norm Stewart and helping the 1975-76 squad to the Big Eight title...Division II Central Missouri won the consolation game of the tournament, defeating Central Michigan, 75-70...The Rams are now 1-3 all-time in the state of Missouri and 2-4 all-time against schools from the Show Me State...The 13 points scored by Stout brings his career total to 1,327, moving him into tenth place on the all-time scoring list at Fordham...The 13 points by Dunston brings his career total to 1,428, good for eighth on the Fordham all-time scoring list while his nine rebounds gives him 731 all-time, good for ninth place on Fordham's all-time list...Dunston also had a pair of blocks on the night, bringing his career blocked shot total to 221, 37 behind Fordham's all-time leader, Damon Lopez, who swatted 258 shots from 1988-91.
