Box Score Feb. 9, 2011
Final Stats
Philadelphia, Pa. -
Temple University has a promotion where everyone in attendance gets a free taco at local restaurant whenever the Owls score 70 points or more in a game. For the first 20 minutes of tonight's Fordham-Temple game it appeared that everyone would be partaking of a gratis Mexican treat as the Owls built a 47-29 halftime lead. But a ferocious second half comeback by the Rams not only put the food in jeopardy but also put the game in doubt before the Rams came up short at the end, falling to 24th-ranked Temple, 77-66, in an Atlantic 10 game in the Liacouras Center.
With the loss, Fordham's 12th straight, the Rams fall to 6-16 overall, 0-10 in the Atlantic 10 while Temple improves to 18-5 overall, 8-2 in the conference.
It was a game of second chances for Temple, who grabbed 24 offensive rebounds and scored 24 second chance points to ten for the Rams. The difference was even larger in the first half as Temple recorded 14 offensive rebounds and netted 20 of its 24 second chance points.
The loss eclipsed a solid game from sophomore Chris Gaston, who netted a season-high 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds. He scored 18 of his 27 points in the second half, igniting the Rams' comeback bid.
Fordham's second half charge was also aided by a stingy defense, which allowed the Owls to shoot just 24.2% (8-33) from the field while the Rams shot over 50% (15-29).
The Rams trailed by as many as 25, 37-12, in the first half before taking the 18-point deficit into the break. Fordham couldn't seem to solve the Temple defense and couldn't keep the Owls off the backboards for the first 20 minutes.
The second half was a different story as the Rams came out of the locker room with a purpose and Gaston opened things up with a pair of baskets over the first minute to make it a 47-33 game.
A Scootie Randall three-pointer a little over a minute later bumped the Temple lead back to 17, 50-33, but nine straight from the Rams cut the Owls' advantage to single digits, 50-42, following a Gaston layup with 15:38 left. Gaston and Kervin Bristol accounted for all nine Fordham points in the run with Gaston netting five and Bristol four.
Rahir Jefferson knocked down one of two free throws 12 seconds later for Temple to halt the Fordham run and a Ramone Moore jumper with 14:53 remaining pushed Owls' lead back to double figures, 53-42.
A Brenton Butler jumper 16 seconds later made it a nine-point game and Branden Frazier nailed a pair of three-pointers over the next 1:30 to make it a three-point game, 53-50. Frazier was fouled on the second of his two trifectas but couldn't convert the free throw coming out of a media timeout.
Frazier had a chance to knot the game at 53 for the Rams but his three-pointer with 12:51 left bounced out and, a minute later, Randall scored to begin a 6-0 Temple run as the Owls took a 59-50 lead with 8:35 remaining.
A pair of Gaston free throws started a 7-3 Fordham spurt as the Rams made it a five-point game, 62-57, on an Alberto Estwick three-pointer with 5:33 on the clock.
Seven consecutive Temple points put the Owls up 12, 69-57, with 3:47 remaining and the closest the Rams would get from that point was seven, 69-62, following a Gaston three-point play with 1:22 left as Temple hit all eight of its free throws over the final minute.
Frazier added 12 points and four assists for the Rams while Butler finished with ten points and seven assists and Bristol pulled down eleven rebounds to go with six points and four blocks.
The Rams will next be in action on Sunday afternoon, February 13th, as they host the Saint Joseph's University Hawks in the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J., at 4:00 PM. The game between the two Jesuit schools will be one of more than 90 games played this season as part of the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight (JBS) and will be televised live on the CBS College Sports Regional Network (Verizon FIOS in the New York City area).
Notes
The Owls have now taken the past four meetings with the Rams, including two this year... Temple now leads the all-time series, 38-13... The loss extends Fordham's Atlantic 10 losing streak to 36 games dating back to 2009... The last Fordham conference win was a 67-65 victory at St. Bonaventure on January 28, 2009... The loss also extended the Rams' losing streak against ranked opponents to 52 games... Butler's ten points brings his career total to 1,426, tenth on the on the Fordham all-time scoring list... He is nine points behind Fred Herzog (1987-93) for ninth on the career list... Butler hit one three-pointer to bring his career total to 213, fourth on the Fordham all-time list... He is one behind Jermaine Anderson (2002-06) and Bevon Robin (1997-2001) for third on the career list... Gaston's previous season-high a 24-point game against Saint Louis on January 19... He now has 16 career 20-point games... Bristol had his third straight double-digit rebounding game and is averaging 10.4 rpg over the past five games... His eleven rebounds led the Rams and it marked only the fourth game this year that Gaston did not lead the team in rebounding... Fordham outshot Temple in the game, shooting 44.8% (26-58) to 33.8% (23-68) for the Owls... It was Fordham's first loss in seven games this year when the Rams outshot their opponent.
