Box Score Feb. 20, 2008
Final Stats |
AP Gallery 
ST. LOUIS) -- Bryant Dunston almost did it all for the Fordham Rams on Wednesday night against Saint Louis. Almost. The senior forward scored a season-high 30 points, grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, dished out four assists and blocked a pair of shots while playing all 45 minutes. In the last two minutes of regulation, Dunston pulled down a pair of offensive rebounds and converted them both into baskets, one of those a three-point play, to lead the Rams back from a five-point deficit with three minutes left in regulation before a Marcus Stout three-pointer with 4.3 seconds left forced overtime. But the Billikens outscored the Rams 10-6 in the extra period to pull out a 69-65 Atlantic 10 win at the Scottrade Center.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 10-13 overall, 4-7 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Louis improves to 15-11 overall, 6-6 in the conference.
Dunston's double-double was his third straight and Atlantic 10-leading eleventh of the year. He shot 10 of 17 from the field, including 2-for-5 from behind the three-point arc, and hit eight of his 11 free throw attempts. It was the first 30-point game for a Ram since Marcus Stout netted 31 points at St. Bonaventure on February 9, 2006.
The Rams trailed by five, following a Kevin Lisch jumper with 3:08 remaining in regulation. A Dunston free throw 28 seconds later made it a four-point game and just over a minute later Dunston rebounded a Kevin Anderson miss and turned it into a lay-up to cut the Fordham deficit to two, 55-53.
After Lisch hit a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left to give the Billikens a 57-53 lead, Dunston grabbed a Brenton Butler miss and his three-point play made it a one-point game, 57-56, with 21 seconds remaining in regulation.
Lisch converted another pair of free throws two seconds later to put Saint Louis up three, 59-56, before the Rams worked the ball around to Stout, who hit a three-pointer from deep on the left side with 4.3 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime.
Fordham took a 61-59 lead on a Dunston jumper just under a minute into the extra period before Lisch connected on a three-pointer to put the Billikens up one, 62-61, with 2:57 left. An Anderson lay-up helped Fordham regain the lead, 63-61, 30 seconds later but a Barry Eberhardt three-pointer gave Saint Louis a 65-63 lead with 1:26 remaining.
Anderson tied the game for Fordham with a pair of free throws with 59 seconds left but Tommie Liddell III responded with two free throws of his own to put the Billikens up for good, 67-65.
Following a Fordham turnover with 24 seconds remaining, Lisch hit one of two charity shots to give the Rams one last chance at extending the game. But a Stout three-pointer with eight seconds left was short and Eberhardt hit one of two free throws to secure the win for Saint Louis.
The Rams opened the game slowly, trailing the Billikens by six, 11-5, 7:43 into the game before Fordham used a 9-2 spurt to take a one-point lead, 14-13, after a Stout three-pointer with 8:42 left in the half.
The lead would change hands five times over the next 2:43, before Fordham used a Stout three-pointer and a Sebastian Greene lay-up to turn a 19-18 deficit into a 23-19 lead with 4:31 remaining in the period.
Saint Louis got the Fordham lead down to one, 23-22, just over a minute later, before the Rams closed out the half with a 10-2 spurt, capped by a Mike Moore three-pointer just before the buzzer, to take a 33-24 lead at the break.
The Rams increased the lead to ten, 34-24, on a Stout free throw 29 seconds into the second half, and led by ten again two minutes into the half, 36-26, when Saint Louis used an 11-1 run to tie the game at 37 on a Liddell three-pointer with 14:16 left.
The game would be tied twice more over the next five minutes, the second at 44 on a Liddell free throw with 9:01 remaining.
A Lisch three-pointer with 7:35 left broke the 44-44 tie and Saint Louis would increase to as many as five, 55-50, with 3:08 left before the Rams mounted the comeback to force overtime.
Moore finished with 11 points for the Rams, hitting three of his five three-pointers, while Stout added ten.
The Rams will next be in action on Saturday, February 23rd, as they travel to Philadelphia to face the Temple University Owls in the Liacouras Center at 3:00 p.m. or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the Fordham-Temple women's game which tip-offs at 1:00 p.m.
Notes
The game marked the first overtime contest of the year for the Rams and the first overtime game since Fordham defeated Saint Joseph's, 55-54, last year...Saint Louis now leads the all-time series, 3-1...The Rams had 19 assists on 22 field goals...Dunston's eleven double-doubles are the most for a Ram since Sanford Jenkins recorded eleven in the 1991-92 season...He now has 36 double-doubles over his career...Dunston's 30 points brings his career total to 1,739, good for fifth place on the Fordham all-time scoring list, five points behind Jim Cunningham...His ten field goals was a season-high for Fordham...Dunston's previous career-high was 24 against Binghamton on December 28th...Dunston's 13 rebounds brings his career total to 937, good for fourth place on the Fordham all-time rebounding list, 31 behind Bill McCadney...He has recorded double figures in rebounds in 11 of the past 13 games...Dunston's two blocked shots in the game brings his Fordham career-record total to 279...Dunston is averaging 19.0 ppg and 12.0 rpg over the past four games...Stout's ten points brings his career total to 1,613, good for seventh place on the all-time list.
