Box Score Feb. 17, 2010
Final Stats
Richmond, Va. -
Playing against a tenacious Richmond defense, a unit ranked third in the Atlantic 10 in points allowed, Fordham expected its scoring opportunities to be at a premium. But what the Rams didn't expect was that the Spiders' offense, an offense that entered the game ranked eleventh in the conference in scoring, would be so potent, as Richmond registered its third highest scoring game of the year, upending the Rams 84-56 in an Atlantic 10 game in the Robins Center.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 2-22 overall, 0-12 in the Atlantic 10, while Richmond, who entered the game ranked 25th in the latest Associated Press poll, won its seventh straight to improve to 21-6 overall, 10-2 in the conference to remain in first place.
"We struggled to make shots early and once we got behind, it was hard to catch up," said Fordham head coach Jared Grasso. "Our team is very young and beat up and the long season is starting to catch up with the freshmen. But we'll get back to work tomorrow and start getting ready for Rhode Island."
The Fordham offense had trouble getting on track, shooting 37.5% (22-58) from the field and 3-for-13 from behind the arc (23.1%). Part of Fordham's offensive struggles was the fact that Brenton Butler, the Rams' second leading scorer, was limited to two points in the first half, playing only nine minutes due to foul trouble. Butler made up for the lost time in the second half, scoring 15 points to finish the game as Fordham's leading scorer.
Chris Gaston also contributed to the Fordham offense, netting 14 points and adding 14 rebounds for his 15th double-double of the year. The 15 double-doubles is the second best among all Atlantic 10 players and the most for a Ram since Bryant Dunston registered 15 doubles-doubles in 2007-08.
The game started slowly as each team had problems finding the basket. The score was knotted at four at the first media time out but Richmond came out of the break scoring 13 straight points to take a 17-4 lead on a Kevin Anderson jumper with 11:31 left in the half.
A Chris Gaston bucket 30 seconds later stemmed the Spider run but a Justin Harper three-pointer and a pair of Kevin Smith free throws got the Richmond lead up to 16, 22-6, midway through the period.
The Rams lowered the deficit to 13 twice over the next two minutes, the second time at 26-13, on a Gaston jumper, and Fordham trailed by 15, 31-16, after a Lance Brown layup with 6:41 left in the half when Richmond used an 8-3 to take a 20-point lead, 39-19, with 3:50 remaining.
The Spiders enjoyed a 50-28 lead at the break and the Rams were able to cut it back to 19, 53-34, on three Butler free throws 2:30 into the second half but that was as close as Fordham would get.
Alberto Estwick also finished in double figures for Fordham with eleven points while Brown added eight points and four rebounds.
The Rams will next be in action on Saturday, February 20th, as they travel up to Kingston, R.I., to face the University of Rhode Island in an Atlantic 10 game in the Ryan Center at 4:00 PM.
Notes
Butler's 17 points brings his career total to 1,051, good for 29th on the Fordham all-time scoring list, one point behind Sanford Jenkins (1988-92)...Butler now has 169 career three-pointers, placing him in sixth place on the Fordham career list, eight behind Jean Prioleau, while his 489 career attempts is fifth on the list...Butler converted all five of his free throw attempts to raise his free throwing shooting percentage to 82.4% (89-108) on the year...Gaston has now scored 418 points this year, the fourth best single season total for a freshman in Fordham history...His 14 rebounds was two shy of his season-high...The Rams outrebounded the Spiders, 35-32, and had 13 offensive rebounds, seven of those from Gaston...Richmond now leads the all-time series, 8-7, and has won the past three meetings...The trip started off rough for the Rams who were forced to bus to Richmond when a snow storm hit the New York area on Tuesday, causing major delays at the airport.
