Box Score Jan. 16, 2010
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Bronx, N.Y. -
Fordham men's basketball coach Jared Grasso doesn't need to see the movie Groundhog Day. He's living it. For the past four games Grasso has seen the same scenario repeated: the Rams play a close first half, either tie the game or pull ahead in the second half, suffer through a scoring drought and battle back, only to come up short. Today the opponent was the other Atlantic 10 Rams, the University of Rhode Island, who used a 32-4 second half run to take a 76-48 lead en route to an 85-67 win over Fordham in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 2-14 overall on the year, 0-4 in the Atlantic 10, while Rhode Island improves to 14-2 overall, 2-1 in the conference.
"We played well for 25 minutes, just like the past few games, but we have to learn how to play hard for 40 minutes," said Grasso. "Against a team as good as Rhode Island we have to have a third person besides Chris and Brenton step up on offense when we go through those droughts. We need to get tougher and we'll keep working hard and getting better every day."
The loss overshadowed another double-double from Fordham freshman Chris Gaston, his tenth of the season. He finished with 29 points, shooting 13-for-24 from the field, and 16 rebounds, both game-highs. The 16 rebounds ties Gaston's season-high and he added four assists and two steals.
Playing in the Rose Hill Gym for the first time since December 8th, Fordham fed off the crowd, playing a tight first half, taking a one-point lead, 36-35, on a Gaston layup with 1:36 left before Rhode Island scored the final five points of the half to take a 40-36 halftime lead.
Alberto Estwick opened the second half with a three-pointer for Fordham and, after a Keith Cothran layup, Brenton Butler nailed a three to tie the game at 42 2:06 into the period.
A minute later, Gaston answered a Will Martell layup with one of his own to retie the game at 46 before a Marquis Jones jumper ignited eight straight Rhode Island points as Rhody took a 52-44 lead with 14:53 left.
A Gaston layup 18 seconds later pulled Fordham back to within six, 52-46, but Rhode Island then scored 16 consecutive points to take a 68-46 lead midway through the half.
Gaston halted the Rhode Island run with a layup with 9:51 left but the visitors scored eight straight after that, taking a commanding 76-48 lead with 8:28 remaining.
Fordham didn't back down, however, using a 14-2 run to make it a 16-point game, 78-62, on a Gaston layup with 3:28 left. Gaston led the run with eight points but the closest Fordham would get from that point would be 15, 82-67, on a Butler three-pointer with 1:20 remaining.
The game started out tight with four ties over the first eight minutes, the final time at 16 after a Gaston layup. Fordham then used a 6-2 spurt to take a four-point lead, 22-18, following a Gaston free throw with 9:36 left.
Fordham led by three later in the half, 24-21, when Rhode Island scored five straight points, taking a 26-24 lead with 6:32 remaining. Rhode Island would lead by three, 35-32, following a pair of Lamont Ulmer free throws with 2:48 remaining but layups from Fahro Alihodzic and Gaston over the next 1:22 gave Fordham a 36-35 lead.
Keith Cothran answered with a three-pointer for Rhode Island 22 seconds later and an Ulmer layup with 12 seconds left gave Rhode Island the 40-36 halftime advantage.
Butler finished with 19 points, shooting 4-for-7 from behind the arc for Fordham while Estwick added seven points, Alihodzic pulled down ten rebounds and Rayner Moquete grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists.
Fordham will next be in action on Wednesday, January 20th, as they travel to St. Louis, Missouri, to face the St. Louis University Billikens in an Atlantic 10 game at 8:00 p.m. (EST).
Notes
Fordham outrebounded Rhode Island, 51-43, the third time in the past four games that Fordham has outrebounded an opponent...The 51 rebounds is a season-high for Fordham, surpassing the 49 boards grabbed by the Rams at Massachusetts...Fordham also tied its season high for field goal attempts with 75 and for assists with 17...Rhode Island has taken the past five meetings and leads the all-time series, 29-23...Gaston also had 16 rebounds at Manhattan...Gaston's 13 field goals is a season-high...His ten double-doubles is the second most in the Atlantic 10 while his eleven ten-rebound games is also second...Alihodzic tied his season-high with the ten rebounds...Butler is averaging 19.1 ppg over the past ten games and is shooting 16-30 (53.3%) from behind the arc over the past four games.
