Box Score Dec. 23, 2008
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Bronx, N.Y. -- In a game in which most Fordham fans were eagerly awaiting the appearance of sophomore Jacob Green it was freshman Jio Fontan who proved the difference for the Rams. Fontan's driving layup with 43 seconds left in the game gave Fordham a 57-56 lead and the Rams held on for a 60-56 win over the University New Hampshire in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the win, the Rams improve to 2-7 on the year while New Hampshire falls to 3-6.
Green, who was making his Fordham debut after sitting out the past year following his transfer from West Virginia, played a solid game for the Rams. He netted eight points and added a game-high eight rebounds before fouling out with two minutes remaining.
"That was a gutsy win tonight," said Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg. "It took us a while to get going after coming back from a 12-day layoff but I think we showed signs of what we're capable of doing tonight. And I think Jacob Green will help us the rest of the way, especially with the rebounding."
New Hampshire took a 56-55 lead on a pair of Tyrece Gibbs free throws with 1:01 remaining, just the second lead of the game for the Wildcats. After the Rams called a timeout with 57 seconds left, Fontan took the inbounds pass and drove the lane, laying the ball up in traffic and giving Fordham a 57-56 lead.
Chris Bethel rebounded an Alvin Abreu miss with 34 seconds left and was immediately fouled. Bethel converted one of his two free throws, giving New Hampshire a chance to tie or take the lead, but Bethel rebounded a Tyrone Conley missed and got the ball to Fontan who was fouled. Fontan hit both free throws to make it a 60-56 game with 12 seconds left and the Wildcats missed a pair of three-pointers in the final seconds.
It was a game between two teams that were coming off long layoffs (Fordham hadn't played since December 11th and New Hampshire last played on December 13th) and it showed over the first three minutes as both teams struggled offensively. The Rams led 4-0 on a pair of Fontan and a pair of Bethel free throws over the first 3:14.
The Fordham offense then heated up as the Rams used a 16-6 spurt to open a 20-6 lead on a Fontan layup with 8:35 left in the half. Fontan led the run with six points while Mike Moore added five.
A little over a minute later, a Russell Graham layup ignited an 11-2 run that would trim a 22-10 Fordham lead to just three, 24-21, with 4:11 remaining. Russell and Abreu each scored four points in the run.
The Rams led by three at the half, 28-25, but the Wildcats cut it to one, 28-27, 19 seconds into the second half on a Rony Tchatchoua layup and New Hampshire would eventually knot the game at 35 on a Conley layup with 16:39 left.
Fordham responded with six straight points over the next minute, led by a pair of baskets from Moore, and the Rams led by six, 42-36, following a Green free throw with 14:33 remaining.
New Hampshire whittled the Fordham lead down to three, 44-41, and then tied the game at 44 on a Gibbs three-pointer with 10:36 left, before a Fontan jumper and a Moore three-pointer over the next 1:11 gave the Rams a 49-44 lead.
The Wildcats responded with five straight points of their own to knot the game at 49 on a pair of Gibbs free throws with just under eight minutes remaining and Gibbs would give New Hampshire its first lead of the night with a free throw with 5:10 left.
New Hampshire built the lead to four, 53-49, over the next 30 seconds before the Rams ran off six straight points to take a 55-53 lead following a Bethel layup with 2:22 remaining.
Moore led all scorers with a game-high 19 points for the Rams while Fontan added 18 points and Bethel finished with ten points and seven rebounds.
The Rams will next be in action on Sunday night, December 28th, as they face UT Martin in the FIU Holiday Tournament in Miami at 7:00 p.m.
Notes
This was the first meeting between the two schools...The Rams are now 11-5 all-time against schools currently in the America East...The Rams forced 19 New Hampshire turnovers which they converted into 21 points...Junior guard Brenton Butler missed his second straight game with an ankle injury...Fontan has now scored in double figures in seven of the past eight games and he is averaging 17.7 ppg over the past three...Moore has now scored in double figures in four straight games, averaging 18.0 ppg over that stretch...Green entered the game 2:12 into the contest and hit his first Fordham basket with 10:39 left in the half...Bethel played the first half with a mask to protect a broken nose suffered in the Fairfield game before playing most of the second without it...Fordham held New Hampshire to shooting just 35.2% 919-54) in the game, the lowest shooting percentage for a Rams opponent this year.
