Box Score Feb. 17, 2008
Box Score
BRONX N.Y. - Charlotte's Leemire Goldwire, who entered the game ranked second in the Atlantic 10 with a 20.2 ppg average, missed 12 of his 16 field goal attempts against Fordham on Sunday night. But the only one that mattered was the last one as Goldwire's tip-in with under a second left bounced out and the Rams held on for a 53-51 win over the 49ers in an Atlantic 10 game in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the win, the Rams improve to 10-12 overall, 4-6 in the Atlantic 10, while Charlotte falls to 14-10 overall, 5-5 in the conference.
Marcus Stout, who entered the game as Fordham's leading scorer with a 15.4 ppg average, was held to nine points on the night but it was his last two that proved to be the difference in the game. Stout stepped to the free throw line with 22 seconds left and the Rams up 52-49 and he nailed a pair of charity shots to give Fordham a 53-49 lead.
Lamont Mack then drove to the basket for Charlotte, putting in a lay-up with 12 seconds left to make it a two-point game, 53-51.
As the Rams inbounded the ball, Stout was tied up under the basket and the ball went to Charlotte on the jump ball call. Goldwire attempted a three-pointer from in front of the 49er bench which was short, but Fordham was unable to grab the rebound as it rolled out of bounds, giving Charlotte one last chance with a second left on the clock.
The 49ers inbound pass was intended for Charlie Coley, but the ball was tipped away to Goldwire and his tip bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
The end of the game was typical of the game for the Rams, who put in a strong defensive effort, holding Charlotte to shooting 33.9% (20-59) from the field, holding the 49ers to well under their 70.4 ppg scoring average.
Over the past three games, the Rams have allowed opponents to averaging 62.7 ppg while shooting just 37.6% (68-181) from the field, harking back to last year when Fordham lead the Atlantic 10 in scoring defense.
"We really played tough defense tonight," said Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg. "We didn't give them a lot of good looks and didn't want to give them too many open three-pointers. For the past two games we have gone back to the basics, which includes the tough defense we're accustomed to."
The defense was led by Bryant Dunston, who recorded his third straight and league-leading tenth double-double of the year. Dunston finished the game with a team-high 14 points while grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds and adding five blocks.
The Rams led the entire game with only one tie, 12-12 following a Phil Jones tip-in with 11:42 left in the first.
Later in the first, Fordham used a Brenton Butler three-pointer and a Michael Binns jumper to turn an 18-17 lead into a 23-17 advantage with 6:31 left in the period. But the 49ers came back, twice cutting the Fordham lead to two, the last coming at 26-24 on an Ian Anderson three-pointer with 2:33 left. But a Sebastian Greene lay-up with just under a minute remaining gave Fordham a 28-24 lead at the intermission.
The Rams came out hot in the second half, scoring the first five points of the period on a Stout basket and a three-point play from Butler, to take their biggest lead of the night, 33-24, 2:13 into the period.
Charlotte whittled away at the Fordham lead, eventually cutting the advantage to two, 44-42, following a Mack lay-up with 6:17 remaining.
A pair of Sebastian Greene free throws and a Kevin Anderson lay-up over the next 1:34 gave Fordham a 48-42 lead but the 49ers were again able to get the lead down to two, 51-49, on a Mack three-pointer with 1:37 left in the game before Stout made it a 53-49 game with his two free throws 1:15 later.
Binns finished with ten points for the Rams while Stout and Butler each added nine.
The Rams will next be in action on Wednesday, February 20th, as they travel to St. Louis, Missouri, to face the Saint Louis University Billikens in an Atlantic 10 contest in the Scottrade Center at 8:00 p.m. (EST).
Notes
The 51 points scored by Charlotte was the fewest for a Fordham opponent since the Rams held NJIT to 44 on December 8th and was the lowest output by an Atlantic 10 opponent since Richmond scored 37 in the first round of the 2006 Atlantic 10 Championship...Dunston's ten double-doubles are the most for a Ram since Damon Lopez recorded ten in the 1990-91 season...He now has 35 double-doubles over his career...Stout was held without a three-pointer for only the third time all season...The win was Fordham's first ever over Charlotte in five meetings...The Rams are now 5-6 in televised games this year...Dunston's 14 points brings his career total to 1,709, moving him ahead of behind Ken Charles and into fifth place on the Fordham all-time scoring list, 35 point behind Jim Cunningham...Dunston's 13 rebounds brings his career total to 924, moving him ahead of John Stevens and into fourth place on the Fordham all-time rebounding list, 44 behind Bill McCadney...He has recorded double figures in rebounds in 11 of the past 12 games...Dunston's five blocked shots in the game brings his Fordham career record total to 277...Dunston is averaging 15.9 ppg and 12.2 rpg over the past 12 games...Stout's nine points brings his career total to 1,598, good for seventh place on the all-time list.
