Box Score Nov. 19, 2010
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Bronx, N.Y. -
It's hard to win a basketball game when you shoot under 35% from the field. It's very hard to win when you shoot under 35% and commit more than 20 turnovers. It's near impossible to win when you shoot under 35%, commit more than 20 turnovers and play without your most experienced player and leading scorer as Fordham found out tonight in a 58-48 loss to Hampton University in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 1-2 on the year while Hampton improves to 2-1.
"I thought we played hard and did a good job rebounding," said Fordham head coach Tom Pecora. "We got 20 offensive rebounds but didn't convert on a lot of them and we turned the ball over too many times. Playing without Brenton Butler was really tough."
Butler, Fordham's starting point guard, missed the game with a leg injury he suffered in practice earlier this week. Without him running the point, the Rams committed 21 turnovers, which the Pirates converted into 22 points, and shot 32.0% from the field.
Overshadowed in the loss was another double-double from Fordham sophomore Chris Gaston, who finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds for his third double-double in as many games this year. He now has 22 double-doubles in his career.
Gaston's 14 rebounds led the Rams as they crashed the boards, outrebounding Hampton, 50-26, on the night and pulling down 20 offensive rebounds. But Fordham was only able to score 13 second chance points off those 20 rebounds.
The Rams led by three at the half, 28-25, but Hampton opened the second half by sandwiching baskets by Danny Agbelese and Darrion Pellum around a Gaston free throw as the Pirates tied the game at 29 just under two minutes into the half.
Another Gaston free throw 40 seconds later put the Rams up one, 32-31, but Charles Funches answered with a jumper for Hampton to give the Pirates a 33-32 lead with 15:09 left.
A Marvin Dominique jumper and Alberto Estwick three-pointer over the next minute helped Fordham take its biggest of the half, 37-33, with 13:56 remaining but a Brandon Tunnell basket was the first of nine straight Hampton points as the Pirates built a five-point lead, 42-37, midway through the period.
A Gaston free throw and layup over a 33 second stretch a minute later cut the Fordham deficit to two, 42-40, with just over eight minutes to play.
Neither team managed any offense over the next 2:30 before a pair of Funches free throws ignited an 11-1 Hampton run as the Pirates took a 12-point lead, 53-41, following a Pellum three-pointer with 2:19 remaining and the closest the Rams would get from that point was nine, 53-44, on two Branden Frazier free throws with 1:47 left.
The game opened slowly for both offenses until the Rams took a 7-2 lead after an Estwick three-pointer just under five minutes into the game. The Fordham offense then went cold as Hampton used a 19-6 spurt to take a 21-13 with eight minutes left in the half.
Hampton led by seven, 25-18, with 3:45 remaining but the Rams closed out the half with ten straight points, four of those from Gaston, to take the 28-25 lead at the break.
Estwick finished with 18 points, shooting 7-for-15 from the field and 4-for-9 from behind the arc, for the Rams and he added a career-high nine rebounds while Frazier finished with eight points, four rebounds and four assists and Dominique grabbed ten rebounds, his second double digits rebounding game this year, and rejected three shots.
The Rams will next be in action on Tuesday night, November 23rd, as they host the Long Island University Blackbird in the Rose Hill Gym at 7:00 p.m.
Notes
Hampton has won both of the games played between the two teams... Fordham is now 2-2 all-time against schools from the MEAC... The 50 rebounds are the most for a Fordham team since the Rams pulled down 51 against Rhode Island last year... The Rams were held to six baskets in the second half with two of those coming in the final minute... Gaston is now averaging 16.7 ppg and 16.0 rpg on the year.
