Box Score Dec. 30, 2009
Final Stats
Kennesaw, Ga. -
First the good news. Chris Gaston and Brenton Butler combined for 51 points for Fordham in tonight's basketball game at Kennesaw State. Now the bad news. No other Ram scored more than seven points as Fordham fell to the Owls, 79-66, in the KSU Convocation Center.
With the loss, Fordham's fourth straight, the Rams fall to 2-9 on the year while Kennesaw State improves to 5-7.
Gaston led the Rams with 26 points and he grabbed 12 rebounds to notch his eighth double-double of the year, the second most for an Atlantic 10 player this year. Butler, who was playing in front of family and friends from his hometown, finished with 25 points for the Rams, tying his season-high.
The game was decided on the boards as Kennesaw State outrebounded the Rams, 45-36. Included in those 45 rebounds for the Owls were 18 offensive boards, which they turned into 19 second chance points. The rebounding difference was more evident in the second half when Kennesaw State corralled 24 of its 45 rebounds, including eleven offensive boards.
The Rams trailed by three at the half, 35-32, thanks to a last-second Butler three-pointer. Fordham came out determined in the second half, scoring the first eight points of the period to take a 40-35 lead on a Jacob Green steal and dunk two minutes into the half. Butler started the run with a jumper 20 seconds into the period followed by a Gaston layup 38 seconds later that gave the Rams a 36-35 lead. Another Butler jumper with 18:21 left made it a 38-35 game before Green's basket put Fordham up five.
Markeith Cummings stopped the Fordham run with a layup with 17:31 remaining before a Butler jumper 12 seconds later helped the Rams regain a five-point advantage, 42-37.
Forty seconds later, Lance Brown converted one of two free throws to give Fordham its biggest lead of the night, 43-37, with 16:37 left.
The Fordham offense then went cold as Kennesaw State scored the next nine points to take a 46-43 lead on a Zadrain Gordon dunk with 14:18 left in the contest. A Gaston layup 13 seconds later got the Rams back to within one, 46-45, but the Owls ran off five straight points to go up 51-45 following a LaDaris Green jumper with 13:25 remaining.
A Lance Brown jumper twenty seconds later brought the Rams to within four, 51-47, but that was as close as Fordham would get as Kennesaw State used an 8-3 run to take a 59-50 lead with 10:46 left before consecutive Gaston baskets made it a five-point game, 59-54, midway through the half.
The game opened tight with neither team holding more than a four-point lead over the first nine minutes. Kennesaw State used an 8-0 spurt to turn a 17-13 lead into a 25-13 advantage with 8:55 remaining.
The Owls would eventually get the lead to 12, 34-22, on Cummings jumper with 3:50 left in the period before the Rams closed out the stanza with a 10-1 run to cut the deficit to three at the break, 35-32, thanks to Butler's buzzer-beating three-pointer.
The Rams will next be in action on Sunday, January 3rd, as they travel to Hampton, Virginia, to face the Hampton University Pirates at 6:00 p.m.
Notes
The game marked the debut of freshman guard Rayner Moquete, who just joined the Rams three days ago...Moquete played four minutes and missed his only shot from the field...Gaston attempted a season-high 23 shots...Fordham outshot Kennesaw State in the game 41.3% (26-63) to 40.6% (26-64)...After shooting 23-26 from the charity stripe over the past two games, the Ram shot 54.5% (12-22) from the free throw line...The Rams have now lost their last ten road games dating back to last year...The game was the second of five straight road games for Fordham...The game marked only the second appearance in the state of Georgia for the Rams, who fall to 0-2 in the Peach State...Fordham dropped a 92-72 contest at Georgia Tech in 1990.
