Box Score Feb. 22, 2012
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Bronx, N.Y. -
Wednesday was Ash Wednesday but the Fordham University men's basketball program didn't get the Lenten season off to a good start, falling to St. Bonaventure University, 89-63 in an Atlantic 10 game in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 9-17 overall, 2-11 in the Atlantic 10, while St. Bonaventure improves to 15-10 overall, 8-5 in the conference.
"I could give you a bunch of coach speak but that team is better than us," said Fordham head coach Tom Pecora. "They're where we want to be in a couple of years. Obviously (Andrew) Nicholson is a pro who manhandled anyone we put on him. I don't know if you could have a more efficient line than he had tonight."
Six NBA scouts where in attendance to watch St. Bonaventure's Andrew Nicholson and he didn't disappoint, scoring a game-high 30 points while adding nine rebounds as the Bonnies felt right at home in the Bronx, shooting over 60% from the field, including 63.6% (7-11) from behind the arc. The Rams couldn't answer the Bonnies' hot hands, shooting under 40% from the field, including 15.8% (3-19) from long distance.
The game started off on the wrong foot the Rams, who trailed 4-1 just over a minute into the contest. But a Kervin Bristol jumper cut it to one, 4-3, a minute later, and, following a Bonnies basket, a three-pointer from Alberto Estwick knotted the game at six with 17:09 remaining in the half.
Just over two minutes later, another Bristol jumper retied the game at eight before St. Bonaventure netted 12 straight points to take a 20-8 lead following a Chris Johnson layup with 11:29 left in the period.
A Devon McMillan layup halted the Bonnies' run and trimmed the Fordham deficit to ten, 26-16. The Rams would trail by ten again later in the half, 28-18, following a Chris Gaston jumper with 6:53 on the clock before a Matthew Wright three increased the St. Bonaventure lead to 13. On the ensuing possession, Estwick was fouled on a shot attempt and Gaston and Ryan Canty went up for the rebound. Both players grabbed on to the rim and held on, bending the rim and forcing a delay to correct the problem.
Following the delay, the Bonnies built the lead to as many as 17, 43-26, before taking a 43-28 lead into the break. Fans thought the Rams had scored on Brandon Frazier layup at the buzzer but upon review, the officials ruled that the ball was not out of Frazier's hand when the clock hit zero.
Frazier made up for the disallowed layup at the end of the first half with one 16 seconds into the second, but the Bonnies then went on a 10-1 run to take a commanding 53-31 lead on a pair of Demitrius Conger free throws with 16:56 remaining. The closest the Rams would get from that point would be 19, 57-38, on a Gaston three-point play with 15:14 left in the game.
Gaston led the Rams with 18 points, shooting 8-for-15 from the field, and he added four rebounds and four blocks, while McMillan finished with eleven points and Frazier and Bristol each scored nine, with Bristol grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
The Rams will return to action on Saturday, February 25th, as they host the La Salle University Explores in an Atlantic 10 game in the Rose Hill Gym at 1:00 PM as part of Hall of Fame Weekend. The game will be televised live on the YES Network.
Notes
Gaston's 18 points brings his career total to 1,366, good for 12th place on the Fordham all-time scoring list... He is six points behind Charlie Yelverton (1968-71) for eleventh place... Gaston's four rebounds bring his career total to 880, placing him in sixth place on the Fordham all-time rebounding list... He is 37 behind John Stevens (1962-65) for fifth place... Bristol's seven rebounds bring his average to 9.7 rpg over the past seven games... He also blocked one shot in the game to bring his team-leading season total to 60, the eighth best single season total in school history... Bristol is fourth on the Fordham career blocked shot list with 113... Freshman guard DC Gaitley scored his first collegiate points with a jumper late in the game... The Bonnies shot 63.0% (29-46) from the field, tops among Fordham opponents this year... St. Bonaventure swept the season series with the Rams and has now won the past six match-ups... Former Fordham record-setting quarterback, and current Arizona Cardinal quarterback, John Skelton was in attendance, along with former teammates Nick Magiera, Frank Rizzo and Gerard Rizzo.
