Box Score Dec. 1, 2012
Final Stats
Cambridge, Mass. -
For most of the game today at Lavietes Pavilion the Fordham University men's basketball team felt right at home as more whistles were being blown by the officials than by a traffic agent during rush hour at Times Square. Unfortunately, most of the whistles were fouls called on the Rams and Harvard took advantage of the calls to score 29 points from the free throw stripe and defeat Fordham, 73-64.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 1-6 on the year while Harvard evens its record at 3-3.
For the second straight contest, the Rams forced their opponent to commit 20 turnovers but for the second consecutive game Fordham was done in at the free throw line, being outscored 29-8 at the charity stripe by the Crimson today.
The foul trouble limited the minutes of two Fordham big men, Ryan Canty and Travion Leonard, who played just a combined 28 minutes (15 for Leonard and 13 for Canty) before fouling out. But both players performed while in the game, with each netting ten points and Canty adding nine rebounds.
The game started off close¬¬ with five ties over the first six minutes, the final time at ten following a Leonard free throw. The Rams then exploded for eleven straight points to take their largest lead of the day, 21-10, on a Canty dunk off a missed shot with 10:35 left in the half, a play that brought the Fordham contingent, which included many of Canty's relatives, to their feet. Canty and Ryan Rhoomes each scored four points in the Fordham run.
But the Fordham offense went cold as Harvard reeled off the next 12 points to take a 22-21 lead on a pair of free throws with 6:46 remaining in the period.
The Crimson would get their advantage to as many as six, 29-23, with just over five minutes left in the half before Fordham managed a 10-3 spurt to take a 33-32 lead following a Jeffrey Short jumper with 2:37 on the clock. But Harvard scored the final four points of the half to take a 36-33 lead into the intermission.
The Crimson opened the second half with a 10-4 spurt to build to lead to nine, 46-37, seven minutes into the half.
The Rams whittled away at the Crimson advantage, eventually get the Harvard lead down to four, 50-46, on a Branden Frazier free throw with 9:23 remaining before Harvard went on a 12-4 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 62-50, with 4:45 left.
Fordham refused to give in as a Leonard layup and three-point play ignited a 9-1 spurt as the Rams pulled to within four, 63-59, on a Frazier layup with 3:18 left.
Harvard got the lead back to eight, 67-59, over the next 1:30 but the Rams again were able to make it a four-point game, 67-63, with 44 seconds remaining on baskets from Rhoomes and Frazier but Harvard hit all six of its free throws over the final 33 seconds for the 73-64 win.
Frazier led the Rams with 16 points and he added five rebounds and five assists while Rhoomes finished with a season-high eleven points and seven boards.
Notes
Fordham still leads the all-time series with Harvard, 8-4... Canty's was just one shy of his career-high in rebounding (he had ten at St. Bonaventure last year)... Canty is averaging 14.0 ppg and 7.0 rpg over the past two games... The Rams outscored the Crimson, 42-26, in the paint and 26-14 on second chance points... Canty and redshirt freshman Jared Fay each had a sort of homecoming today... Canty, who hails from Danvers, and Fay, who is from Lynn, both went to school at nearby Brimmer and May School... Both had plenty of family and friends in the stands... Devon McMillan made his first appearance of the year for the Rams... The 29 free throws made by Harvard is a season-high for a Fordham opponent (Manhattan had 26 on Thursday night)... After playing in the oldest NCAA Division I gym in the country on Thursday night (the Rose Hill Gym), the Rams played in the second oldest today (the Lavietes Pavilion opened in 1926)... The game was the second of three against Ivy League teams this year for the Rams, who defeated Penn on November 19 and play Princeton on December 15 at the Barclay Center... The team attended a dinner last night that was hosted by Darlene Luccio Jordan, FCRH '89, a member of the Fordham Board of Trustees... She was a recipient of a Fordham Founders Award last March.
