Box Score Jan. 3, 2009
Final Stats
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - It was a game that, on paper, shouldn't have been close. At team which was perfect at home (Bowling Green) was hosting a team that had not won a road game this season (Fordham). Furthermore, Bowling Green was holding opponents to shooting 37.8% from the field in the Anderson Arena and winning home contests by an average margin of 22.3 points per game, the same average the Rams have lost their three road contests. But everyone knows that games aren't played on paper as a young and hungry Fordham team gave Bowling Green all it could handle, before finally succumbing to the Falcons, 65-59.
With the loss, the Rams fall to 2-10 on the year while Bowling Green improves to 7-6.
Fordham kept the game close with solid defense, holding Bowling Green to shooting 43.4% (23-53) in the game but the Rams couldn't control the boards, allowing 20 second chance points by the Falcons.
The game started slow, with the Rams taking a 3-0 lead on an Alberto Estwick three-pointer 1:25 into the game and increased the lead to 5-0 on a Chris Bethel jumper just over four minutes into the game.
After a Darryl Clements jumper got Bowling Green on the board with 15:22 left in the half, a Jio Fontan three-point play boosted the Fordham lead to six, 8-2, just under a minute later.
The Falcons used an 8-2 run, capped by a Clements three-pointer, to tied the game at ten midway through the half. It would be the first of four ties over the next 8:30, the final one coming at 25 on the first of two Marc Larson free throws. Larson's second charity shot put Bowling Green up one, 26-25, before Jacob Green answered with a basket to put Fordham up, 27-26, with 2:04 remaining.
The Falcons regained the lead on a Larson three-point play 1:51 before the half, 29-27, but a Mike Moore three-pointer and a Bethel put-back in the final 1:15 of the period gave the Rams a 32-29 halftime lead.
Bowling Green outscored Fordham 4-1 over the first two minutes of the second half to knot the game at 33 and the game would be tied three more times over the next two minutes, the final time at 38 on a Bethel jumper.
Back-to-back Brian Moten three-pointers ignited a 13-2 run for the Falcons as Bowling Green took its biggest lead of the day, 51-40, on an Otis Polk layup with eleven minutes remaining.
The Rams responded with a Fontan three-point play and a Green bucket to cut the Falcon lead back to six, 51-45, with 9:50 left but Bowling Green was able to push its advantage back to ten, 55-45, on consecutive Nate Miller field goals, the last with 8:30 remaining.
Fordham then netted the next six points, four of those from Fontan, to cut the deficit back to four, 55-51, with 6:05 left but Bowling Green responded with four of its own to boost the lead back to eight, 59-51.
Fordham then whittled away at the lead, first on a Fontan free throw and then a three-pointer from the freshman, eventually getting it down to two, 59-57, following a pair of Bethel free throws with 3:37 left in the game. But that was as close as the Rams would get as Miller scored four straight points for the Falcons before a Fontan layup with 13 seconds left made it a four-point game, 63-59.
Fontan finished with a game-high 20 points for the Rams, shooting 7-for-15 from the field, and he added three rebounds and two steals, while Bethel added 17 points and eight rebounds and Green netted ten points and blocked three shots.
The Rams will next be in action on Wednesday night, January 7th as they open their 2009 Atlantic 10 schedule by hosting the St. Bonaventure University Bonnies in the Rose Hill Gym at 7:00 p.m.
Notes
The Rams are now winless in two attempts versus Bowling Green and 1-6 all-time against the current members of the MAC...Fordham is also now 2-21 all-time in regular season games in the state of Ohio...Bowling Green head coach Louis Orr's daughter was a member of the Fordham women's program, graduating with 994 career points (15th on the Fordham career scoring list)...Fontan, who celebrates his birthday on Sunday, has now scored in double figures in five of the past six games, averaging 16.2 ppg over that stretch...The ten points were a season-high for Green...His three blocks ties Bethel (vs. Manhattan) and Moore (vs. Lafayette) for the most by a Ram this year...Junior guard Brenton Butler missed his fifth straight game with an ankle injury...Former Ram guard Kevin Anderson was in attendance.
The Falcons held a 40-29 rebounding edge.
