Box Score Nov. 28, 2007
Final Stats
Bronx, N.Y. -
It's not often that a basketball team can win a game by nine points when its two leading scorers are held to a combined 14 points. But such was the case on Wednesday as Fordham's Marcus Stout and Bryant Dunston combined for just 14 points but three other Rams scored in double figures, to lead Fordham to a 66-57 win over Manhattan College in the 100th meeting for the Battle of the Bronx in the Draddy Gym.
With the win, the Rams break a three-game losing streak and even their record at 3-3 on the year while Manhattan also evens its record at 3-3.
Brenton Butler and Chris Bethel, who each netted a game-high 15 points, picked up the slack for Fordham along with Sebastian Greene, who finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and one assist to earn the John "Doc" Johnson MVP award.
The stingy Fordham defense, which had been missing during the three-game losing streak, returned for the game as the Rams held Manhattan to shooting 37.7% (23-61) from the field and 15.0% (3-20) from behind the three-point arch.
"It was a gutsy win for us tonight," said Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg. "We got the lead and Manhattan kept fighting back. But we made some big plays when we had to and got some defensive stops."
The Rams led by seven at the half, 36-29, and a Stout three-pointer just under a minute into the second half put Fordham up ten, 39-29. But the Jaspers responded, scoring nine straight points to make it a one-point game, 39-38, following a Darryl Crawford free throw with 13:41 remaining.
On Fordham's next possession, Mike Moore missed a jumper but Dunston was there to tap in the rebound.
The Rams would build the lead back to seven, 45-38, on a lay-up and a dunk from Greene over the next minute, but Greene was whistled for a technical following his dunk. Antoine Pearson sunk the two technical free throws and Darryl Crawford put back a missed Pearson three-pointer to make it a three-point game, 45-42, with 11:43 left.
Butler wasted little time boosting the Fordham lead back to five, hitting a jumper eight seconds after Crawford's basket which ignited a 10-2 run to put the Rams up, 55-44, with 8:03 remaining.
But the Jaspers clawed back, scoring eight straight points to cut the Fordham advantage to two, 55-53, on a Jamal Ferguson lay-up with 4:45 remaining.
A Stout basket 32 seconds later stretched the Fordham lead to four and then the Rams defense shut down Manhattan as the Jaspers missed seven straight shots over the next three minutes allowing Fordham to build the lead to eight, 61-53, on a Butler jumper with 1:39 left.
The Rams opened the game cold, falling behind by six, 8-2, over the first 3:37 before using 13-2 run over the next seven minutes to take a 15-10 lead. Bethel came in off the bench to lead the run, scoring eleven straight points at one point for the Rams, as Fordham extended the lead to six, 20-14, following a Mike Moore jumper with 7:31 left in the period.
Later in the half, the Jaspers cut the Fordham lead back to three, 21-18, on an Andrew Gabriel lay-up before the Rams netted ten straight points, four of those from Bethel, to take their largest lead of the night, 31-18, with three minutes remaining.
Manhattan outscored Fordham 11-2 over the next 2:30 before Herb Tanner hit a three-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to send the Rams into the locker room with a 39-29 halftime advantage.
"Chris was tremendous," said Whittenburg. "He came in off the bench and gave us a big boost. He practiced great all week and he played great tonight."
Bethel shot 7-for-10 from the field to account for his season-high 15 points while also grabbing five rebounds and recording two blocks. Butler added five rebounds to go with his 15 points while Greene shot 5-for-8 from the field.
The Rams will next be in action on Sunday, December 2nd as they host the Robert Morris University Colonials in the Rose Hill Gym at 1:00 PM.
Notes
The Rams have now won two straight in the annual Battle of the Bronx but Manhattan still leads the all-time series, 51-49...Bethel's 15 points was one shy of his career-high of 16 set against Saint Louis last year...The game marked the first time that Stout and Dunston didn't score in double figures this year...Dunston finished with six points to bring his career total to 1469, good for sixth place on the Fordham all-time list, while Stout added eight points to bring his career total to 1,361, placing him in tenth place on the list...Dunston also pulled down seven rebounds to up his career total to 752, four behind Sanford Jenkins who sits in seventh place on the Fordham all-time rebounding list.
