Feb. 9, 2011

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Philadelphia, Pa. -

The Fordham University men's basketball team continues its Atlantic 10 season tonight in Philadelphia as the Rams take on the 24th-ranked Temple University Owls, three-time defending A-10 champs, at 7:00 PM in the Liacouras Center. Follow the game live on your computer by clicking on the links above.

The Rams enter the game with a 6-15 overall record, 0-9 in the conference, following a 77-60 Atlantic 10 loss to the University of Richmond last Saturday in the Rose Hill Gym. The Rams are looking to snap an eleven-game losing streak as well as a 35-game Atlantic 10 losing streak dating back to 2009. Temple enters the game with a 17-5 overall record, 7-2 in the A-10, after an 80-67 conference win over Rhode Island in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Fordham will be guided into the game by first-year head coach Tom Pecora, who arrived at Rose Hill in March after nine successful seasons as the head coach at Hofstra where he averaged 20 wins during the past six years.

On the court, Fordham is led by sophomore Chris Gaston and senior Brenton Butler. Gaston has posted a double-double in 13 of the 21 games this year, including an 18-point, 13-rebound game against Richmond, and is averaging 15.2 ppg and 11.1 rpg. He leads the Atlantic 10 and is ranked sixth in the nation in rebounding. Butler is second on the team and is ranked 12th in the Atlantic 10, averaging 14.3 ppg, and he also lead the squad with 72 assists. He is currently tenth on the Fordham all-time scoring list with 1,416 points.

THE TEMPLE SERIES: Wednesday night's contest will be the 51st meeting between Fordham and Temple on the hardwood...The Owls lead the all-time series, which started in the 1931-32 season, 37-13...The Owls won the past three match-ups, including a 70-51 win in the IZOD Center on January 5th as Juan Fernandez and Ramone Moore each netted 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds... Temple also won last year's meeting, 62-45 win last January 23rd in the Rose Hill Gym behind 13 points from Fernandez and 12 from Scootie Randall, 72-45, and the 2008-09 match-up on February 18, 2009 in Philadelphia as Lavoy Allen finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds and Craig Williams added 11 points...The two teams split a pair of games in 2007-08 with Fordham winning, 78-76, in Philadelphia on February 23rd behind 31 points from Marcus Stout and 12 points and ten rebounds from Bryant Dunston while Temple won, 58-50, in the Rose Hill Gym on January 31st when Chris Clark scored 16 points and Mark Tyndale added 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Owls... The Owls have won 24 of the past 28 meetings and 26 of the last 31...Prior to joining the Atlantic 10 the two teams last met on December 5, 1981 when the Owls defeated the Rams, 64-63, in the Rose Hill Gym...The Rams are 4-23 against Temple since joining the Atlantic 10... Temple has won 18 of the 22 meetings in Philadelphia, 16 of the 23 games played in the Rose Hill Gym, two of the three meetings on a neutral court and the lone game at the IZOD Center...The longest winning streak was the Temple 20-game streak...The largest margin of victory for Temple was 32 (77-45 on January 12, 2005)...The largest margin of victory for Fordham was 17 (69-52 on March 5, 2006).

WHO'S HOT: Sophomore forward Chris Gaston has 13 double-doubles on the year, his most recent an 18-point, 13-rebound game against Richmond last Saturday, his 32nd career double-double... Prior to that game he scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds at Rhode Island... His 13 double-doubles are the most for an Atlantic 10 player this year and tenth most in the NCAA Division I... Gaston leads the Atlantic 10 and is sixth in the nation in rebounding with an 11.1 rpg average while he also leads the Rams and is ninth in the A-10 in scoring with a 15.2 ppg average... Redshirt senior guard Brenton Butler has netted double figures in 14 of the 20 games he has played in this year, including netting 16 points against Richmond on Saturday and 15 points the week before in the St. Bonaventure game... He has also surpassed the 20-point mark four times this year, including a season-high 28 points in the loss at Santa Clara... Butler, who is now tenth on the Fordham all-time scoring list with 1,416 points, is averaging 14.3 ppg, second best on the team and 12th best in the Atlantic 10, while also leading the squad with 72 assists... Freshman guard Branden Frazier has his collegiate career off to a good start, averaging 11.9 ppg, third best on the squad, including scoring 19 points in the Duquesne game and eleven against St. Bonaventure and Richmond... He leads the team and is tied for third in the Atlantic 10 with 45 three-pointers made... Junior forward Kervin Bristol had eight points and 13 rebounds at Rhode Island and then grabbed 11 rebounds, scored six points and blocked five shots against Richmond... He is averaging 8.8 rpg over the past six games.