Box Score Dec. 22, 2007
Final Stats
Bronx, N.Y. - After a two week break for finals, the Fordham Rams knew they would experience some rust to start the UNC Greensboro game. Unfortunately, the Rams couldn't seem to shake the rusty play, falling to the Spartans, 58-54, in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the loss, the Rams fall to 5-5 on the year while Greensboro improves to 5-4.
"The way we played, it definitely looked like we were off for two weeks," said Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg. "Our two key seniors played inconsistently today and we were outrebounded in the game. The one thing I preach in practice is rebounding and we've got to rebound better to win."
Despite being outrebounded 39-25 and shooting 36.0% (18-50) from the field, the Rams still had a chance to send the game to overtime. A pair of Sebastian Greene free throws made it a three-point game, 57-54, with just over a minute left and Brenton Butler rebounded a Kevin Oleksiak miss for the Rams with 28 seconds left.
After Fordham got the ball over mid-court, the Rams called a time out with 16 seconds remaining.
Following the timeout, Butler got off a three pointer from the top of the key that bounced out and Oleksiak grabbed the rebound for the Spartans with six seconds left and then hit one of two free throws to seal the win for Greensboro.
The Rams started out hot, building a 10-7 lead 3:15 into the game following a Mike Moore three-pointer. But the Fordham offense then went cold as Greensboro scored eight straight points to take a 15-10 lead on a Kendall Toney three-pointer with 12:05 left in the half.
The Spartans would lead by five two more times over the next seven minutes, the final time at 22-17, with 5:10 remaining before Butler hit consecutive three-pointers to give Fordham a 23-22 lead with 4:11 left in the half.
The lead would change four times over the next four minutes before the Spartans took a 30-28 advantage into the break.
Greensboro opened the second half with an 11-1 run to take its largest lead of the day, 41-29, on an Oleksiak three-pointer 3:30 into the period, before the Rams responded with seven straight points of their own to cut the Spartans' lead to five, 41-36, with 12:31 left.
The Rams could get no closer than five until a Greene lay-up pulled Fordham to within three, 52-49, with 4:41 remaining but a pair of Dwayne Johnson free throws 30 seconds later bumped the Greensboro lead back to five, 54-49.
Another Greene lay-up with just over three minutes left and a Dunston free throw 39 seconds later made it a two-point game, 54-52, but an Oleksiak three-point play pushed the Spartan lead to five, 57-52, with 1:56 remaining.
Butler led the Rams with 15 points, hitting four three-pointers, while Dunston finished with ten points, nine rebounds and a season-high seven blocks.
The Rams will next be in action on Friday, December 28th, as they host the Binghamton Bearcats in the Rose Hill Gym at 7:00 PM.
Notes The game was the first ever meeting between the two schools on the hardwood...Greensboro turned the ball over 18 times in the game and the Rams have now forced their opponents to commit 68 turnovers over the past three games...The seven blocked shots for Dunston was one shy of his career-high...The seven blocks also brings his career total to 244, 14 behind Fordham's all-time leader, Damon Lopez, who recorded 258 blocked shots from 1988-91...Dunston's 10 points brings his career total to 1,518, good for sixth place on the Fordham all-time list while his nine rebounds brings his career total to 779, good for seventh on the Fordham all-time list...Marcus Stout finished with five points to bring his career total to 1,410, good for ninth place on the all-time list.
