Box Score Jan. 26, 2008
Final Stats
Charlotte, N.C. -
The defensive game plan for Fordham entering the Charlotte game was to keep Leemire Goldwire, the 49ers' leading scorer who is fourth in the Atlantic 10 in scoring with a 20.4 ppg average, in check. And the Rams managed to do that, holding Goldwire to six points under his season average.
What the Rams failed to do was to stop Goldwire's teammate Lamont Mack, who finished with a game-high 19 points, and to create offense for themselves, as Fordham fell to Charlotte, 74-60, in an Atlantic 10 game at Halton Arena.
With the loss, the Rams fall to 8-9 overall, 2-3 in the Atlantic 10, while Charlotte improves to 13-6 overall, 4-1 in the conference.
"We thought that as long as Goldwire wasn't involved in the offense, we would be okay," said Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg. "But we couldn't get the ball into Bryant Dunston tonight and we missed too many open shots. You can't win on the road when you have a long scoreless drought."
Over the past four games, Fordham's three-point defense was solid, allowing opponents to shoot just 20.3% (13-64) from behind the arc, giving up 3.3 three-pointers per game. But Charlotte was hot from behind the three-point line tonight, despite just two players hitting a three. Those two, Goldwire and Mack, each connected on four three-pointers with Mack igniting a second half run with three straight treys, as the 49ers shot 42.1% (8-19) from long range.
Conversely, the Rams had the hot hand from three-point range over the past three games, connecting on 40.3% (29-72) of their long range field goals, averaging 9.7 threes per game. But tonight, Fordham shot just 22.2% (6-27) from behind the arc, missing seven straight at one point in the second half as the Rams went scoreless for almost nine minutes.
Butler tied the game at 44 for the Rams with 14:12 remaining, answering a Mack three that gave Charlotte a 44-41 lead 22 seconds earlier. Mack then hit back-to-back three-pointers over the minute to start a 17-0 49er run as Charlotte took a commanding 61-44 lead with 6:18 remaining following a Charlie Cooley dunk.
Charlotte would build the lead to as many as 21, 70-49, on a pair of Goldwire free throws with just over three minutes left before the Rams scored ten straight, highlighted by three-pointers from Marcus Stout and Butler, to cut the deficit to 11, 70-59, with 1:43 remaining, but that was as close as the Rams would get.
The game opened slowly with six ties over the first 11:35, the final time at 19 with 8:25 left in the period. A Sebastian Greene jumper started a 7-0 run for the Rams as Fordham took a 26-19 lead with 4:31 remaining following a pair of Butler free throws.
The Rams would extend the lead to eight, 30-22, on a Greene dunk with 3:33 left in the half before Charlotte closed out the period with an 8-2 run, capped by a Goldwire three at the buzzer to cut the 49er deficit to two, 32-30, at the break.
The second half opened with four ties over the first six minutes, the final tie at 44 with 14:12 remaining.
Butler finished with a team-high 18 points for the Rams, along with four assists, while Stout added 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Greene also finished in double figures for Fordham, netting 12 points to go with eight rebounds while Bryant Dunston just missed his seventh straight double-double, scoring nine points and pulling down a game-high ten rebounds.
The Rams will next be in action on Thursday night, January 31st, as they host the Temple University Owls in an Atlantic 10 game at 8:00 p.m. in a contest that will be broadcast live on CSTV.
Notes
Charlotte has won all four meetings between the two schools...Dunston fouled out for the first time this season after fouling out three times last year...The Rams outrebounded the 49ers, 37-36, and recorded 11 steals, two shy of their season-high...Butler set a season-high with eight free throws made, which also ties the Fordham season-high, and he tied his career-high with ten free throw attempted...The nine points brings Dunston's career total to 1,636, good for sixth place on the Fordham all-time list, 61 points behind Ken Charles...Dunston's 10 rebounds brings his career total to 869, good for fifth place on the Fordham career rebounding list, 48 behind John Stevens...Dunston also blocked two shots in the game and has blocked at least one shot in 16 of the 17 games this season, including 39 over the past 11 games...Dunston is averaging 16.9 ppg and 12.9 rpg over the past seven games...Stout's 15 points brings his career total to 1,518, good for seventh place on the all-time list...His two three-pointers in the game give him 226 for his career, moving him ahead of Bevon Robin and Jermaine Anderson and into second place on the Fordham all-time list.
