Box Score After twice setting a school record with 16 three-pointers in a game earlier this year, the Fordham Rams hoped that 24th-ranked Xavier Musketeers had gotten the barrage of threes out of their system. But to the Rams' dismay, Xavier recorded seven first half field goals from behind the arc, and two more in the second, en route to a 68-50 Atlantic 10 win over Fordham in the Cintas Center.
With the loss, the Rams fall to 6-8 overall on the year, 0-2 in the Atlantic 10, while Xavier improves to 14-3 overall, 2-0 in the conference.
In the game, Fordham senior forward Bryant Dunston recorded three blocks to bring his career total to 258, tying him with Damon Lopez as Fordham's all-time leader in blocked shots. He also finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, both team highs, for his fourth straight double-double and his fifth of the year.
For the second straight game, the Fordham defense held an opponent to well under their scoring average as Xavier entered the game averaging 81.1 ppg, fourth best in the Atlantic 10. The Rams also held the Musketeers, the second-ranked shooting team in the conference entering the contest, to shooting just 41.7% (20-48), well below their season average of 49.1%.
"We played with much more intensity today," said Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg. "We played solid defense, holding a very good team to under their average, but couldn't hit the shots when we needed them."
Despite holding the Musketeers to only two three-pointers in the second half, it was the first one that seemed to be the most deadly to the Rams. Down 32-26 at the break, the Rams were playing solid defense on Xavier as the shot clock wound down. Just before the clock expired, Drew Lavender was able to squeeze off an off-balanced three-pointer that found the net. That shot ignited an 8-0 Musketeer run to open the period, as Xavier built the lead to 14, 40-26, 2:19 into the period.
A Marcus Stout lay-up a minute later stopped the Xavier run but the Musketeers responded with an 8-2 spurt to take an 18-point lead, 48-30, following a B.J. Raymond three-pointer, his fifth of the day.
Later in the half, Fordham used a 7-2 run to cut an 18-point deficit to 13, 58-45, on a Mike Moore lay-up with 4:12 remaining. Stout started the run with a three-pointer and after a Xavier basket, Dunston tipped in a Stout miss and the Rams stole the inbounds pass which Moore converted into a lay-up.
The Rams would trail by 13 again a minute later after a pair of Brenton Butler free throws but that was as close a Fordham would get as the Musketeers converted six of their seven free throws over the final three minutes.
Fordham held its own over the first 20 minutes, jumping out to a 7-2 lead four minutes into the contest with five of those points coming from Dunston.
Xavier came back to take an 11-9 lead on a Josh Duncan three-pointer with 14:19 remaining and the game would then be tied twice over the next minute, the final time at 13 on a Dunston lay-up.
A Dunston dunk with 11:07 left in the half gave Fordham a 15-13 lead but the Ram offense then went cold as Xavier scored 12 straight points to take a 25-15 lead with 4:19 left. But a Dunston basket and a Butler three-pointer over the next minute cut the Fordham deficit in half, 25-20, before the Musketeers took a 32-26 lead at the intermission.
Stout also finished in double figures for the Rams, netting 16 points to go with three rebounds and a game-high three steals.
The Rams will next be in action on Wednesday, January 16th, as they open their 2008 Atlantic 10 home schedule by hosting the George Washington University Colonials in the Rose Hill Gym at 7:00 p.m.
Notes
Final Stats
Xavier, who has won four straight over Fordham, now leads the all-time series, 16-3...Fordham is now 184-172 overall against other Jesuit schools...Dunston's double-double was the 30th of his career...The 19 points brings Dunston's career total to 1,600, good for sixth place on the Fordham all-time list, 97 points behind Ken Charles...Dunston's 11 rebounds brings his career total to 831, good for fifth place on the Fordham career rebounding list...Dunston has blocked at least one shot in 13 of the 14 games this season, including 32 over the past eight games...Dunston is averaging 20.5 ppg and 13.0 rpg over the past four games...Stout's 16 points in the game to bring his career total to 1,465, good for seventh place on the all-time list...His two three-pointers in the game give him 217 for his career, moving him ahead of Bevon Robin and Jermaine Anderson and into second place on the Fordham all-time list.
