Box Score Jan. 31, 2009
Box Score
Bronx, N.Y. -
Fordham men's basketball fans must have wondered what happened to the team that just knocked off St. Bonaventure on Wednesday night. The Rams played one of their best games of the year that night, holding the Bonnies in check while shooting almost 50% from the field in picking up their first Atlantic 10 win of the year.
Tonight, it was all different. Fordham allowed a Saint Louis University team to score a season-high 88 points, shooting over 66% from behind the arc, as the Billikens upended the Rams, 88-58, in an Atlantic 10 game in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 3-16 overall, 1-6 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Louis improves to 12-9 overall, 3-4 in the conference.
Starting the game without the services of Trey Blue, who had returned to Chicago to attend to a funeral, the Rams suffered two more losses during the game when big men Chris Bethel and Jacob Green both went down with injuries.
"We didn't play defense, we didn't play smart and we didn't rebound," said Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg. "Saint Louis is a good team but tonight it came down to us. We got away from all the things that made us successful at St. Bonaventure."
Fordham opened the game much as they had played at St. Bonaventure, building an 11-4 lead over the first 4:20. Mike Moore opened the scoring for the Rams with a layup and Green followed with a three-point play to make it a 5-0 game. After a Kyle Cassity free throw cut the Fordham lead back to four, a Chris Bethel layup gave the Rams a 7-1 lead.
Kwamain Mitchell's three-pointer pulled the Billikens to within three, 7-4, but Bethel responded with a pair of free throws and then Moore added a jumper as the Rams took their biggest lead of the night, 11-4, with 15:40 remaining in the half.
The Rams would lead by five, 14-9, following an Alberto Estwick basket two minutes later, when Saint Louis used a 7-2 spurt to tie the game at 16 on a Barry Eberhardt three-point play.
Five straight Saint Louis points gave the Billikens a 21-16 lead before a Green tip-in brought the Rams back to within three, 21-18, midway through the half.
A minute later, a Jio Fontan trifecta made it a two-point game, 23-21, but the Fordham offense then got cold, going scoreless over the next seven minutes as the Billikens netted 14 unanswered points to take a commanding 37-21 lead with four minutes left in the period.
A Green layup halted the Fordham offensive dry spell but the Rams couldn't build off it as they trailed by 17, 44-27, at the break.
The Rams would get the deficit back to 17 twice over the first two minutes of the second half, the final time at 51-34, following a Moore jumper but that was as close as they would get.
Green led the Rams with a career-high 16 points, hitting all five of his field goal attempts, and he added three rebounds and two blocks, while Moore finished with 14 points and four rebounds and Fontan netted 12 points.
The Rams will next be in action on Saturday, February 7th, as they travel to Washington, D.C., to face the George Washington University Colonials in an Atlantic 10 contest in the Smith Center at 1:00 p.m. in a game that will be televised live by CBS College Sports Network.
Notes
Both coaching staffs wore sneakers with their suits as part of the initiative of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Association's Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers program to raise awareness of cancer research...Saint Louis now leads the all-time series, 4-1...Green's previous career-high was ten, which he did twice, the last time at Rhode Island...Green now has a team-high 24 blocks...Fontan scored in double figures for the eighth straight game and 12th as of his past 13...He is averaging 17.2 ppg over the past eight games... Zach Wing missed a shot in the first half, snapping a streak of seven straight field goals made over the past four games...The matchup between Saint Louis and Fordham was just one of more than 90 games this season between teams from the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities across the United States...Each of the 28 is dedicated to strong academics and teaching women and men to serve others and live a faith that does justice.
