Box Score Nov. 9, 2007
Final Stats
Manhattan, N.Y. -
The section of blue stands behind the Fordham bench were awash in a sea of maroon as a large contingent of Fordham fans made the trek from Rose Hill into Manhattan to see the Rams' 2007-08 season-opener with Columbia. And the Rams didn't disappoint their fans, using a stingy defense and fast-breaking offense to defeat the Lions, 79-61, in Levien Gymnasium.
Marcus Stout led the Rams with a game-high 21 points, hitting eight of his 16 field goal attempts, including 4-for-8 from behind the three-point arch, while Brenton Butler added 19 points, shooting 6-for-8 from behind the arch, and Bryant Dunston finished with 13.
"We played a great basketball game tonight," said Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg. "This has got to be the best game we've played on the road since I've been at Fordham. We played well in all facets of the game."
The Rams came out strong defensively, wreaking havoc for the Columbia offense, which shot just 35.0% (7-20) in the half and 41.7% (20-48) in the game. Fordham also forced 16 turnovers in the game, which translated into 25 Ram points.
"Our defense made some stops early in the game and that seemed to ignite us," said Whittenburg. "We had a game plan and the team executed it very well. We knew Columbia has a good team with lots of seniors and we had to take them out of their normal offense."
After Columbia took a 2-0 lead on a Mack Montgomery jumper 1:17 into the game, the Lions' only lead of the night, the Rams used a 12-2 spurt to build a 12-4 lead 4:39 into the game. The opening run was led by four points from Dunston and three-pointers from Stout and Butler.
After the Lions cut the Fordham lead back to three, 14-11, three minutes later, a Dunston dunk opened a 17-1 run as the Rams took a commanding 31-12 lead following a pair of Dunston free throws with 6:51 left in the half.
The closest Columbia would get from that point would be 14, which occurred three times, the last coming at 45-31 two minutes into the second half.
The Rams offense seemed to click all night, especially when the five senior starters were on the court. Fordham shot 56.5% (26-46) in the game, including 52.4% (11-21) from three-point range.
"We talked about making the extra pass to get an open shot and we did that tonight," said Stout. "A couple of times we thought we were open but we made that one extra pass and had a wide open shot."
The Rams will next be in action on Monday, November 12th as they travel to Columbia, Missouri, to compete in the Columbia Regional of the CBE Classic. Fordham will face Central Missouri on Monday night at 5:00 PM (EST) and then take on either Missouri or Central Michigan on Tuesday night at either 5:00 PM or 8:00 PM (EST).
Notes
The win is the second straight season-opening win for the Rams, who defeated Sacred Heart, 70-68, in the Rose Hill Gym in the first game of the 2006-07 season...The game is the earliest season-opener for Fordham, eclipsing last year's squad who opened with Sacred Heart on November 10th...Freshman guard Mike Moore scored his first collegiate points on a three-pointer with 28 seconds left in the first half...The Rams now lead the all-time series with Columbia, 51-26...The 77 games played against the Lions are the third most against any opponent in Fordham men's basketball history...The 21 points scored by Stout brings his career total to 1,292, moving him into 12th place on the Fordham all-time scoring list...The 21-point output from Stout is the 16th 20-point game of his career.
