Box Score Jan. 25, 2009
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Bronx, N.Y. - A quick look at the stat sheet from the Fordham-Duquesne men's basketball matchup would show that the game was even when it came to field goals attempted. Duquesne shot 61 field goals as did Fordham, while the Dukes put up 22 three-point attempts to 23 for the Rams. And Fordham attempted more free throws by a 33-29 margin. Unfortunately for Ram fans, it was Duquesne who converted more of its shot attempts as the Dukes defeated the Rams, 89-68, in an Atlantic 10 contest in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the loss, the Rams fall to 2-15 overall, 0-5 in the Atlantic 10, while Duquesne improves to 13-6 overall, 4-2 in the conference.
"The game came down to whether we were going to make out shots today and we didn't," said Fordham head coach Derecek Whittenburg. "When you're at home you can't go two for 22 in three-pointers and 18 for 33 in free throws and win."
The two three-pointers made by Fordham tied its season low, set against Princeton on November 26th. The Rams opened the Atlantic 10 schedule with 34 treys over the first four conference games before hitting the cold streak today.
Whittenburg decided to shakeup his starting lineup, giving senior forward Zach Wing his first career start and it paid immediate dividends as Wing scored Fordham's first four points, helping the Rams opened the game with a 7-3 lead following a Jio Fontan layup just over four minutes into the game.
After Jason Duty hit a three-pointer for Duquesne with 15:03 left in the half, Chris Bethel responded with a layup 44 seconds later to put the Rams up three, 9-6.
Seven straight Duquesne points, capped by a Bill Clark trifecta, helped the Dukes build a 13-9 lead before Fontan hit one of two free throws to cut the Fordham deficit to three, 13-10.
Duquesne then exploded with ten unanswered points to take a 23-10 lead following a Duty free throw midway through the half but a Mike Moore three-point play pulled the Rams back to within ten, 23-13, with 9:15 remaining.
Moore answered a Bill Clark layup with a three-pointer for the Rams, Fordham's only trey of the half, to make it a nine-point game, 25-16, with 8:34 left in the period.
The Dukes built the lead to 15, 31-16, over the next two minutes before the Rams used a Fontan free throw and three-point play to cut the Duquesne lead to eleven, 31-20, with 5:26 remaining.
But Duquesne would close out the half strong, increasing the lead to 18, 43-25, with 1:38 left before a Fontan layup with eight ticks on the clock made it a 43-27 game at the break.
Fordham would cut the deficit to 15 twice over the first three minutes of the second half, the final time at 46-31, following a Wing layup, but that was as close as they would get.
Moore led the Rams with 18 points while Chris Bethel finished with a double-double, netting 16 points and grabbing eleven rebounds. Fontan also scored in double digits for Fordham with 16 points.
The Rams will next be in action on Wednesday night, January 28th, as they travel to St. Bonaventure, N.Y., to face the St. Bonaventure University Bonnies in an Atlantic 10 game at 7:00 p.m.
Notes
The newest Fordham Athletic Hall of Famers were introduced to the crowd at halftime...Former Ram Mushon Ya'akosi was in attendance...The game featured two head coaches who played at the same high school...Duquesne's Ron Everhart (1980-81) and Fordham's Whittenburg (1976-79) both played at national power DeMatha Catholic High School in Maryland with both playing for Hall of Fame coach Morgan Wootten...The win is the second straight for Duquesne over Fordham and the Dukes now lead the all-time series, 15-12...Fordham had won six straight prior to the two Duquesne wins...The double-double was the third of the year for Bethel and the fourth of his career...Fontan has now scored in double figures in six consecutive games and the ten of the past eleven...He is averaging 18.3 ppg over the last six games... Zach Wing finished with seven points and five rebounds, both career-highs, as he hit all three of his field goal attempts...He has 13 points over the past two games, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the field...Junior guard Brenton Butler missed his tenth straight game with an ankle injury...The Rams forced 17 Duquesne turnovers and had a season-high 13 steals.
