Box Score Jan. 27, 2010
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| 1/27/10 - Highlights vs. La Salle 
Bronx, N.Y. -
It's hard to say that a seven-point game was decided by one shot. But such was the case on Wednesday as Fordham's Alberto Estwick's potential game-tying three-pointer came up short with just under a minute left as Fordham fell to La Salle, 80-73, in an Atlantic 10 game in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 2-17 overall, 0-7 in the Atlantic 10, while La Salle improves to 11-9 overall, 3-3 in the conference.
The game featured a match-up of two of the top freshmen in the Atlantic 10: Fordham's Chris Gaston and La Salle's Aaric Murray. Murray won the scoring battle, 24-21, but Gaston was better on the boards, 15-7, despite being limited to 31 minutes due to foul trouble. The double-double is the second straight and the 12th of the season for Gaston, the second most for an Atlantic 10 player this year.
"Aaric Murray is probably the best player I've seen in the Atlantic 10 since I've been here," said Fordham head coach Jared Grasso. "But it came down to us not making our shots while La Salle did."
La Salle entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 in rebounding margin, outrebounding opponents by an average of 6.2 rpg but the Rams won the battle of the boards tonight, outrebounding the Explorers, 34-33, thanks to the 15 boards from Gaston. It marked the fifth time in the seven conference games this year that Fordham outrebounded its opponent.
As the case for six of the past seven games, the Rams played a solid first half, leading by three at the break, 38-35, but their opponent came out and opened a second half lead before going on to a win. Tonight it was an 11-point lead for La Salle, 70-59, with 7:16 left but Fordham managed to come back before falling short.
The Rams fought back, using a 12-4 run to cut a 72-61 Explorer lead to just three, 76-73, on a Brenton Butler free throw with 1:35 remaining. Butler missed the second of his two free throws with La Salle's Rodney Green grabbing the rebound. But a turnover gave Fordham the ball back with just over a minute left and Estwick's three-pointer with 53 second remaining hit the front of the rim and bounced away. The Explorers then hit four straight free throws to take an 80-73 lead with 21 seconds left for the win.
"I was happy with the way we responded to their run in the second half," said Grasso. "The guys competed hard all game and were right there at the end. This team is going to be good as long as they keep working hard."
Fordham never trailed in the first half, using a 7-0 spurt to turn a 10-8 lead into a 17-8 lead, the Rams' biggest lead of the night, on a Fahro Alihodzic dunk with 1:31 left.
La Salle responded with a 15-6 run to knot the game at 23 following a jumped from T.T. Carey with 6:54 remaining in the half.
Fordham built the lead back to six, 35-29, after a
Lance Brown three-pointer with 1:34 left in the period but the Explorers tied the game at 35 with 29 seconds left ona Devon White layup. A Brown trifecta with five seconds remaining game Fordham a 38-35 halftime advantage.
La Salle opened the second half with an 18-8 run to take a 53-46 lead 5:49 into the period.
Later in the half, Fordham scored seven straight points to tie the game at 55 with 12:09 remaining, the fifth tie of the game, but the Explorers later used a 15-4 run to go up by eleven, 70-59, with 7:16 left, setting up the comeback attempt for the Rams.
Brown finished with 14 points for Fordham while Alihodzic and Butler each chipped in with 12 points, with Butler adding a career-high seven assists.
The Rams will next be in action on Sunday, January 31st, as they travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, to face the Xavier University Musketeers in an Atlantic 10 game at 2:00 p.m.
Notes
Butler's previous career-high for assists was six, which he accomplished five times, the most recent against Massachusetts earlier this year...Gaston now has 13 double-digit rebounding games, the second most in the Atlantic 10 this year and the eighth most in the NCAA...Gaston's 16 rebounds is one shy of his season-high...The Rams were without the services of Herb Tanner and Brennen Melvin, who both missed the game with an injury...The Explorers shot 56.4% (31-55) from the field, the best shooting night for a Fordham opponent this season...The Rams shot 87.5% from the charity stripe (14-16), led by Gaston who was a perfect 7-for-7...La Salle now leads the all-time series, 30-13, and have won the past three meetings.
