Box Score Jan. 21, 2012
Final Stats
Bronx, N.Y. -
The 2011-12 Fordham University men's basketball team has been very Jekyll and Hyde-like in regards to playing at home versus playing on the road, compiling a 7-2 record in the Rose Hill Gym and a 1-7 mark when on the road. And that didn't change today as the Rams' road woes continued in a 95-51 Atlantic 10 loss at St. Bonaventure University in the Reilly Center.
With the loss, the Rams fall to 8-10 overall, 1-4 in the Atlantic 10, while St. Bonaventure moves to 10-7 overall, 3-2 in the conference.
"We're a much different team on the road than we are at home and that's a sign of inexperience," said Fordham head coach Tom Pecora. "We didn't compete hard in the first half, couldn't execute our game plan and didn't have an answer for Andrew Nicholson."
Fordham was without the services of leading scorer and rebounder, Chris Gaston, who was forced to sit out the game due to a flagrant two technical foul he picked up in the Rams' last game. Pecora was hoping that senior Kervin Bristol, Fordham's second leading rebounder, would pick up some of the slack but he was hampered by foul trouble and had just one rebound in 12 minutes. Marvin Dominique, who started in place of Gaston, also got into early foul woes, finishing with two rebounds in 17 minutes.
The Rams got off to a slow start, missing their first four shots until Branden Frazier got Fordham on the board with a layup just under four minutes into the contest to pull the Rams to within four, 6-2. But the Bonnies used a 9-2 run to build a 15-4 lead with 13:13 left in the half following a Matthew Wright three-pointer.
Fordham cut the deficit to eight, 17-9, with a 5-2 spurt over the next three minutes, capped by a Lamount Samuell three-point play but St. Bonaventure responded with 13 unanswered points to take a 30-9 lead with 7:21 left in the half.
The Bonnies closed out the first 20 minutes with a 14-4 run over the final four minutes to take a commanding 49-18 lead at the break.
Bryan Smith provided a shot of offense for the Rams at the beginning of the second half, scoring Fordham's first nine points of the period, but the Rams couldn't contain the Bonnies who extended the lead to as many as 47 in the second half.
Smith led the Rams with 13 points, and he grabbed five rebounds, while Ryan Canty added seven points and ten rebounds, both season-highs, along with two blocks and Samuell finished with eight points.
The Rams return to action on Wednesday night, January 25th, as they travel to Richmond, Virginia, to face the University of Richmond Spiders in an Atlantic 10 contest at 7:00 p.m.
Notes
Canty's previous season-highs were five points at Manhattan and six rebounds, which he accomplished twice, the last time versus Texas State... Samuell matched his season-high with eight points, which he set in last Wednesday's game with Rhode Island... The 95 points were the most allowed by Fordham this year and the Bonnies 52.5% (31-59) field goal percentage was the highest shooting percentage for a Fordham opponent this year... Fordham was outrebounded 45-27... The 27 rebounds are a season-low for Fordham... The Rams are now 0-6 on Saturdays this year... The win was the fifth straight for the Bonnies over the Rams... St. Bonaventure now leads the all-time series, 19-14... Fordham's last Atlantic 10 road win came at St. Bonaventure, a 67-65 victory on January 28, 2009... The game was played on head coach Tom Pecora's 54th birthday.
