Box Score Nov. 26, 2008
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Bronx, N.Y. -- Forgive the Fordham University men's basketball team if they skip a viewing of The Wizard of Oz. For the Rams saw enough of Lions in a season-opening loss to Columbia and tonight the Rams got their fill of Tigers, as Princeton came into the Rose Hill Gym and went home with a 73-61 win over Fordham.
With the loss, the Rams fall to 0-4 on the season while Princeton evens its record at 2-2.
The Rams took their only lead of the game on a Luke Devine layup 46 seconds into the contest before Princeton used a 14-4 run to jump out to an eight-point lead, 14-6, six minutes later.
A Mike Moore layup cut the Fordham deficit to six, 14-8, before the Tigers rattled off eight straight, six on a pair of three-pointers, to take a 22-8 lead with eleven minutes left in the half.
Princeton increased the lead to 17, 31-14, on a pair of Kareem Maddox free throws with just under seven minutes remaining, when the Rams dug in on defense, shutting down the Tigers over the next six minutes. The Fordham offense also awoke, scoring 12 unanswered points, seven from Brenton Butler, to cut the Princeton lead to five, 31-26, on an Alberto Estwick three-pointer with 3:40 left.
Unfortunately, the Fordham offense then went cold as the Rams were held scoreless over the final 3:40 of the half while the Tigers used a Pawel Buczak layup in the final minute to take a 33-26 lead into the intermission.
A pair of Moore free throws in the first minute of the second half made it a five-point game, 33-28, before Princeton scored ten straight points to take a 43-28 lead four minutes into the second half.
The Rams responded with an 11-2 run, led by four points from Jio Fontan, to cut the deficit to six, 45-39, with 12:38 left but Doug Davis nailed a three-pointer 16 seconds later to boost the Princeton lead back to nine.
The Rams would get as close as nine once more in the game, 52-43, on a Herb Tanner jumper, but the Tigers quickly regained a double-figure lead en route to the 73-61 win.
Moore led the Rams with a career-high 21 points, hitting nine of his ten free throws, while Fontan added 14 points.
The good news for the Rams is that there are no Bears on the schedule for the rest of the year. Fordham will next be in action on Sunday, November 30th, when the Rams host James Madison University in the Rose Hill Gym at 1:00 p.m.
