Box Score Dec. 3, 2008
Final Stats
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.-- With a young, relatively inexperienced team, the last thing the Fordham men's basketball team needs is to hit by injuries. Especially an injury to its most experienced player, junior guard Brenton Butler. But twice at Hofstra on Wednesday night Butler was forced from the game by an ankle injury, as the Rams fell to the Pride, 60-40, in the Hofstra Arena.
With the loss, the Rams fall to 0-6 on the year while Hofstra improves to 5-1.
"I'm proud of the way the guys played defensively tonight," said Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg. "But I told my guys before the game that you win with offense on the road. We had a game plan that we seem to execute well in the first half but we got away from it on the offensive end in the second half and a good team like Hofstra will take advantage of that."
Butler wasn't the only injured Ram tonight. Freshman guard Trey Blue, who was averaging 10.0 ppg, missed the game due to an injury suffered in practice. Despite the injuries, Fordham gave Hofstra all it could handle in the first half, jumping out to a 10-5 lead 3:30 into the game following a Butler three-pointer.
But the Fordham offense went scoreless over the next six minutes, allowing the Pride to take a 12-10 lead midway through the half.
A pair of Butler free throws with 8:39 tied the game at 12 before a Mike Moore three-pointer a minute later put Fordham up, 15-12.
A Zygis Sestokas three-pointer knotted the game for Hofstra with seven minutes left in the half, one of three ties over the next three minutes, the final one coming at 20 following a pair of Dane Johnson free throws for the Pride.
A Jio Fontan jumper with 3:27 remaining gave the Rams a 22-20 lead but Hofstra would close out the half with a 7-1 run to take a 27-23 lead at the break.
The Pride extended the lead to eight, 31-23, over the first 1:30 of the second half before the Rams responded with a 9-3 run to cut the deficit back to two, 34-32, on a Chris Bethel jumper with 15:18 left. Butler led the run for Fordham with five points.
But the Fordham offense again went cold, going scoreless over the next six minutes as Hofstra built the lead to 16, 50-34, before the Rams answered with a Moore three-pointer to make it a 13-point game, 50-37, with eight minutes left. But that was as close as the Rams would get.
Moore led all scorers in the game with 16 points, shooting 4-for-8 from behind the arc, while Butler added 11 points and four assists.
The Rams will next be in action on Monday night, December 8th as they host Lafayette College in the Rose Hill Gym at 7:00 p.m.
Notes
Luke Devine pulled down a career-high six rebounds while Bethel led the Rams with eight boards...Fontan dished out five assists and now has a team-high 30 on the year...Fordham still leads the all-time series with Hofstra, 14-7.
