Box Score Nov. 10, 2012
Final Stats
San Marcos, Tex. -
The Fordham University men's basketball squad entered the season opener at Texas State with three Brooklyn natives on its roster. But it was the one Brooklynite on the Bobcats' roster that proved too much for the Rams as Joel Wright scored 19 points and added 12 rebounds to lead Texas State to an 86-76 win over Fordham in the Strahan Coliseum.
The Rams hurt themselves by committing 23 turnovers which the home team converted into 24 points and Fordham was cold from behind the arc and at the free throw stripe, hitting four of 13 long range shots and 14 of 24 charity shots.
Chris Gaston got his senior season off on the right foot, matching Wright with 19 points and grabbing 14 rebounds for his 53rd career double-double. His 14 rebounds brings his career total to 925, moving him ahead of John Stevens and into fifth place on the Fordham all-time list, while his 19 points brings his career scoring total to 1,447, moving him ahead of Jean Prioleau and into ninth on the school's all-time scoring list.
Two other Rams scored in double figures with Branden Frazier finishing with 18 points, along with six rebounds, while Bryan Smith added 16 points and five boards.
The Rams trailed for most of the game but managed to cut the deficit back to five, 65-60, on a Smith three-pointer with 6:46 left.
A Corey Stein three-point play boosted the Texas State lead to eight 20 seconds later but a Jermaine Myers jumper with six minutes left made it a 68-62 game.
Baskets from Wright and Vonn Jones over the next 1:30 put the Bobcats up ten, 72-62, and a Jones three-pointer with 2:16 left made it an eleven-point game for the Bobcats, 77-66, with 2:18 remaining.
A Frazier free throw 12 seconds later was the first of five straight points for the Rams, who pulled to within six, 77-71, following a Frazier layup with 1:19 left on the clock, but that was as close as Fordham would get.
Fordham opened the contest with a 4-2 lead in the first 1:30 thanks to baskets from Travion Leonard and Chris Gaston but Texas State then used a 13-1 run to take a 15-5 lead after a Stern dunk just over five minutes into the game.
A pair of Frazier charity shots ignited a 6-0 Fordham spurt as the Rams made it a four-point game, 15-11, with 13:19 left in the half. Frazier added a jumper in the run while Ryan Rhoomes capped the run with his first collegiate basket.
Later in the period, the Rams trailed by six, 19-13, but a Jeff Short free throw, a Rhoomes jumper and a Smith layup trimmed the Bobcats' lead back to one, 19-18, with 9:10 remaining on the clock.
Texas State built the lead back to six, 24-18, with 8:21 left when the Rams ran off six straight points to knot the game at 24 on a Gaston jumper with just over seven minutes remaining in the half.
The Rams would take a one-point lead, 29-28, with 4:29 left on a Jermaine Myers three-pointer and Fordham led again by one, 31-30, a half minute later but the Bobcats closed out the half with a 11-3 run to take a 41-34 lead at the break.
Myers finished with nine points for the Rams while Leonard added six points, four rebounds and two blocks and Rhoomes notched four points and six rebounds as all three players made their collegiate debuts.
The Rams return to action on Monday, November 12, as they open play in the Pittsburgh pod of the 2012 preseason NIT by facing the host school, the University of Pittsburgh, in the Petersen Events Center at 6:00 p.m. in a game that will be televised on ESPN3.
Notes
The Rams dropped the season opener for the fifth straight year... Fordham is now 0-4 all-time when playing in the Lone Star state... Gaston also had a double-double against the Bobcats last year in the Rose Hill Gym with a career-high 35 points and 15 rebounds... Fordham forced Texas State to commit 18 turnovers, which the Rams turned into 18 points... Fordham recorded 12 steals in the game, led by three from Gaston and two each from Frazier, Leonard, Smith and Rhoomes... The Rams dominated the paint, scoring 48 of their 76 points in the lane... Eight of the ten Rams who played in the game scored... This wasn't the first time Fordham has seen Texas State's Wright as Wright is a transfer from Duquesne where he played for two years.
