Box Score Jan. 20, 2011
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East Rutherford, N.J. -
It was a game better suited for the Cross Bronx Expressway rather than the IZOD Center with more starts and stops than rush hour traffic due to the whistling of 52 total fouls. But Saint Louis found a break in the traffic, scoring 12 straight points midway through the second half to erase a 41-40 Fordham lead, to upend the Rams, 68-55, in an Atlantic 10 match.
The loss, Fordham's sixth straight, drops the Rams to 6-10 overall, 0-4 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Louis improves to 7-11 overall, 2-3 in the conference. The game between the two Jesuits schools was one of more than 90 games that will be played this season as part of the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight (JBS).
The loss overshadowed a strong performance from sophomore Chris Gaston, who scored a season-high 24 points and added ten rebounds for his Atlantic 10-leading tenth double-double of the year and the 29th of his collegiate career. He had gone four games without a double-double, the longest stretch of his young career in which he failed to record a double-double.
The Rams entered the game looking to run on the Billikens, who were looking for a slower paced game, opening the game with a four-guard lineup featuring Brenton Butler, Branden Frazier, Alberto Estwick, Lamount Samuell and Marvin Dominique. But Fordham was unable to control the tempo and was limited to 47 field goals attempts, tying a season-low, making 14, a season-low.
The Rams didn't shoot much better from behind the arc, sinking one of eight attempts while Saint Louis managed to shoot nine-for-20 from three-point land.
Fordham trailed by six at the break, 28-22, but cut the deficit to three on a Frazier free throw and a Gaston layup over the first 1:16 of the second half.
The Billikens responded with a pair of Kyle Cassity baskets over the next 1:30 to go up 32-25 but a Gaston layup ignited a 9-2 spurt, with all nine points coming from Gaston, as the Rams knotted the contest at 34 on a Gaston three-point play with 14:23 left. The play started with a Rayner Moquete steal and he fed Gaston who went in for a dunk while being fouled in the act.
After a Jordair Jett jumper 15 seconds later put Saint Louis up, 36-34, a Gaston basket retied the game with 13 minutes left and Frazier then hit two free throws to give the Rams their first lead, 38-36, 17 seconds later.
A Christian Salecich three-pointer with 12:30 remaining helped the Billikens regain the lead but Gaston answered with a layup 13 ticks later to give Fordam its final lead of the night, 40-39.
The Fordham offense then went cold as Saint Louis scored 12 consecutive points to take a 51-40 lead on a Cassity three-pointer with 8:33 left before Butler converted two free throws 22 seconds later to pull the Rams to within nine, 51-42, but that was as close as they would get.
Both offenses struggled in the first half with neither squad shooting better than 33.3%. However, Saint Louis jumped out to a 12-2 lead over the first 3:38 and would increase the lead to as many as eleven, 19-8, before Fordham used a 13-5 run to cut the Billiken advantage to three, 24-21, on a Frazier three-point play with 3:57 left. But Saint Louis outscored the Rams 4-1 over the final three minutes to bump the lead to six at the half.
Frazier added eleven points for the Rams while Butler finished with nine.
The Rams will next be in action on Saturday night, January 22nd, as they travel to Dayton, Ohio, to face the University of Dayton Flyers in an Atlantic 10 game in the UD Arena at 7:00 p.m.
Notes
Saint Louis has won six of the seven games played between the two Jesuit schools... Fordham is 11-13 all-time at the IZOD Center... The loss extends Fordham's Atlantic 10 losing streak to 29 games dating back to 2009... The last Fordham conference win was a 67-65 victory over St. Bonaventure on January 28, 2009... The loss also extends Fordham's losing streak against Jesuit opponents to 17 games... Butler's nine points bring his career total to 1,359, placing him eleventh on the Fordham all-time scoring list... He is 13 points behind Bob Melvin (1968-71) for tenth on the career list... Gaston's previous season-high was a 21-point game in the season opener with Brown... The Rams shot 26-of-32 from the free throw stripe... The 26 free throws made is a season-best for the Rams, surpassing the 21 free throws made at Lehigh... The Rams forced 19 Saint Louis turnovers, the most for a Fordham opponent this year... The starting lineup was the fourth different starting lineup used by the Rams this year.
