Nov. 3, 2007
Final Stats
Bronx, N.Y. -
For the first four minutes, the Fordham University men's basketball squad could do no wrong as the Rams jumped out to a commanding 20-0 lead, thanks to seven points from senior Michael Binns. But the Rams would score only 11 points the rest of the half as the University of District of Columbia fought back before the Rams held on for a 64-54 exhibition win over the Firebirds in the Rose Hill Gym.
Binns opened the scoring with a pair of baskets in the first minute and Bryant Dunston capped the 20-0 opening with a dunk, just under four minutes into the game.
UDC fought back, scoring 13 straight points to cut the Fordham deficit to seven, 20-13, following a Don Powell jumper with 11:07 remaining in the half.
A pair of free throws from both Dunston and Binns bumped the Fordham lead back to eleven, 24-13, with 7:56 left before the Firebirds used a 14-3 over the next six minutes to make it a three-point game on a pair of Frank Peterson free throws with 1:30 left in the half.
Fordham opened the second half with a 12-6 run, with all 12 points coming from Dunston, to turn a 31-27 advantage into a 43-33 lead with 13:54 remaining.
But UDC answered with seven straight points to make it a 43-40 game on an Antwon Hawkins lay-up two minutes later.
The Firebirds would trail by three twice more in the game, the last time coming at 53-50 with 4:21 left when the Rams scored six straight points, ignited by a four-point play from Brenton Butler, to take a 59-50 lead with 3:29 remaining.
Dunston finished with a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds while Stout added 15 points and Binns and Butler each chipped in with ten.
The Rams will open the 2007-08 regular season on Friday night, November 9th when they travel into Manhattan to face Columbia University at 7:00 PM.
