Sept. 6, 2007

Bronx, N.Y. - The 2007-08 Fordham University men's basketball squad got the season off to an early start as head coach Dereck Whittenburg took the Rams on a five-day trip to The Bahamas over Labor Day weekend where they practiced and played a pair of games.

The Rams opened play against the Guatemalan National team on Friday night, August 31st at in a well kept Bohemian Gym called Sir Kendall Isaac Gymnasium in the Sports Complex of Nassau, The Bahamas. The Rams came out a little sluggish on the offensive end, a result of a limited number of practices and the absence in the line-up of senior forward Bryant Dunston, who sat out the games due to injury, to hold down the paint. So it was no surprise that the Fordham defense held tight and limited the Guatemalan team to just 22 points in the opening 20 minutes.

The second half was a different story as some of players off the bench gave the Rams a big effort and contributed in many different ways. Fordham employed a full court defense in the second half to try and speed up the game and jump start the offense and the Rams accomplished both goals with great success. The guard trio of sophomores Brenton Butler, David Boykin and Herb Tanner were energetic and explosive during the surge. Butler seemed to hit everything he tossed up and Tanner added to the run with a ferocious two handed dunk over an unsuspecting Guatemalan defender.

The huge third quarter run pushed the Fordham lead to as many as 25, ending the third quarter with a 63-41 lead and winning the game going away, 80-53.

The second game of the tour of the Bahamas brought a different Fordham team to Sir Kendall Gym as this time it was the leadership of the veteran Rams that provided the spark. Ever the competitor, and a bit disappointed with his play in the first game, Marcus Stout came out blazing against the COB (College of the Bahamas) Caribs, and they had no answer for him. Time and again the Caribs would extend their defense and Stout made them pay with 25 first half points, including four three-pointers. Luke Devine made the most of his time in starting line-up grabbing eight first half rebounds and finishing the game with a solid double-double of ten points and ten rebounds.

Two other seniors on the squad stepped it up as well against COB as Mike Binns contributed with a few short jumpers and he cleaned up on the glass, and Sebastian Greene attacked the rim time and again to finish off the overmatched COB team as the Rams prevailed, 97-63.

Overall, it was a good trip for the Rams as everyone played a lot of minutes and contributed to the success of the team.