Dec. 4, 2012

Bethlehem, Pa. - You have to forgive the Fordham University men's basketball squad if they start feeling at home in Lehigh's Stabler Arena. For tonight, the Rams play their third game of the young season in the venue as the take on the host Mountain Hawks at 7:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WFUV (90.7 FM) and on wfuv.org and you can also watch the game live at Lehigh Game Central (Fee required) or follow the game via Live Stats.

The three games played by the Rams at Stabler Arena this year (the Rams played two NIT Tip-Off consolation games there last month) are two more than Fordham has played in their own facility, the historic Rose Hill Gym, and also matches the total number of non-conference games that the Rams will play at home (Fordham will host Siena on December 23 and Monmouth on December 31).

Fordham enters the game with a 1-7 record after falling to Harvard University, 73-64, in Cambridge on Saturday. Lehigh enters the game with a 6-2 record after a 102-62 win over Fairleigh Dickinson University in Stabler Arena on Saturday night, the Mountain Hawks' fifth straight win.

On the court, Fordham is led by junior guard Branden Frazier, who is averaging a team-high 16.6 ppg and leads the team with 31 assists, while sophomore guard Bryan Smith is averaging 9.4 ppg and leads the squad with 13 three-pointers on the year. Senior Chris Gaston is netting 11.3 ppg and a team-high 8.7 rpg but will remains out of action due to an injury. Gaston, who led the team in scoring (17.1 ppg) and rebounding (9.9 rpg) last year, has 937 career rebounds, fifth all-time at Fordham, and 1,462 career points, ninth all-time at Rose Hill. He is 31 rebounds behind Bill McCadney (1955-58) for fourth on the all-time rebounding list and 62 points behind Brenton Butler on the all-time scoring list.

The Rams will have to deal with a Lehigh team that's averaging over 80 points per game, led by senior guard T.J. McCollum, who is leading the NCAA Division I in scoring, averaging 25.9 ppg.

Tuesday night's contest will be the 21st meeting between Fordham and Lehigh on the hardwood with the Rams leading the all-time series, which started in 1913-14, 12-8. The Mountain Hawks took last year's meeting, 78-60, on December 1, in the Rose Hill Gym as Gabe Knutson netted 21 points and he added nine re¬bounds while Holden Greiner finished with 18 points and nine boards. Fordham is 167-118 all-time against Patriot League schools.