Box Score Dec. 5, 2009
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Bronx, N.Y. -
Fordham University head coach Jared Grasso entered the Bowling Green game on Saturday as the youngest active NCAA Division I head coach in the country. He probably finished the game feeling a lot older as the Rams shot 23.8% from the field, falling to the Falcons, 67-46, in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 1-5 on the year while Bowling Green improves to 4-3.
"I thought we played hard, competed and had a lot of energy," said Grasso, who was making his head coaching debut. "But it's tough to win when you don't shoot the ball well. We have a ways to go."
A bright spot of the game was the play of Fordham freshman Chris Gaston, who notched his fourth consecutive double-double and his fifth in the six games this year. He finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds, both game-highs, while adding five blocks, tying his season-high.
The game started out even as the two teams traded baskets over the first minute before Bowling Green scored six straight points, four by Otis Polk, to take an 8-2 lead just over four minutes into the game.
A pair of Gaston free throws with 15:03 left in the half ignited a 9-0 Fordham run as the Rams took an 11-8 lead. Estwick followed the Gaston free throws with a three-pointer, Lance Brown added a lay-up and Gaston capped the run with a jumper to put the Rams up three with 10:45 remaining.
The Fordham offense then went cold as the Falcons outscored the Rams 12-4 over the next five minutes to take a 20-15 lead on a Scott Thomas lay-up with 5:59 left in the first.
A Danny Thompson three-pointer cut the Fordham deficit back to two, 20-18, 27 seconds later, but Bowling Green closed out the half with 14 unanswered points to take a 34-18 lead at the intermission.
After Estwick opened the second half with a jumper for the Rams, the Falcons used a 13-3 run to take a commanding 47-21 lead 3:42 into the half. Joe Jakubowski led the run with five points.
Bowling Green would maintain a 20-point lead until Fordham used an 11-2 spurt to cut a 26-point deficit to 17, 58-41, on a Brown three-point play with 5:39 left. Gaston led the Fordham run with seven points.
But 17 would be as close as Fordham would get as a Darion Gions layup and a Jakubowski free throw bumped the Bowling Green lead back to 20.
Brown finished with a season-high 13 points for the Rams while also grabbing five rebounds.
The Rams will next be in action on Tuesday night, December 8th, as they host Stony Brook University at 7:00 p.m. in the Rose Hill Gym.
Notes
Bowling Green has now won all three of the match-ups with Fordham...The game featured the return to the New York City area for Bowling Green head coach Louis Orr, who was the head coach at Seton Hall from 2001-06...Orr is also no stranger to the Rose Hill Gym as his daughter, Monica Mack, played for the Rams from 2001-05...Gaston is averaging 18.8 ppg and 13.0 rpg over the past four games...Ten of Gaston's rebounds were offensive boards...Bowling Green outrebounded the Rams, 48-40...Brown entered the game with two points in his first three games...Sophomore guard Jio Fontan was not at the game...Grasso is schedule to meet with Fontan and his family on Sunday to determine his future with the team.
