Box Score Feb. 4, 2012
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Bronx, N.Y. -
For most of the 2011-12 season, the Fordham University men's basketball team has taken care of business at home but today the Rams came up short against Charlotte, falling to the 49ers, 69-62, in an Atlantic 10 game the Rose Hill Gym.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 9-13 overall, 2-7 in the Atlantic 10, while Charlotte evens its overall record at 11-11 and goes to 3-6 in the conference.
"I thought Charlotte took the fight to us," said Fordham head coach Tom Pecora. "After the way we played in the first half we were lucky to only be down four at halftime. We got some good looks on three-pointers in the second half but we were ice cold. And you're not going to win many games when you give up 18 offensive rebounds."
Junior Chris Gaston, who wasn't sure he would even play today due to a back injury suffered at Temple on Wednesday, almost put the Rams on his back today, scoring a game-high 25 points and grabbing 14 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the year. But Gaston was the only Ram with more than five rebounds as Fordham was outrebounded by Charlotte, 53-36.
Kervin Bristol also chipped in on defense for the Rams, blocking a career-high eight shots.
Fordham and Charlotte each hit six three-pointers in the game but the big difference was that the 49ers only took 12 shots from long distance, compared to 26 for the Rams. Included in Fordham's 20 missed threes were six second half misses that came when the Rams trailed by three points or less, shots that could have given the Rams valuable momentum. Conversely, the 49ers seem to hit some big threes, including back-to-back trifetcas from Jamar Briscoe early in the second half that erased a two-point Fordham lead.
The Rams' missed opportunities were capped by a stretch in the second half with the scored tied at 41. In a one minute span, the Rams missed three shots, two of them from long distance, before Charlotte took the lead for good, 43-41, on a E. Victor Nickerson layup with 13:48 left.
Fordham got the deficit to one twice over the next three minutes, the final time at 48-47 following a Gaston jumper in the paint with 10:36 remaining. But Bryan Smith missed a three-pointer 39 seconds later and the 49ers were able to increase their lead on a Chris Braswell layup with 9:34 on the clock, the first of eight straight Charlotte points as the 49ers took a 56-47 lead with 5:48 left.
A 9-4 Fordham spurt got the deficit down to four, 60-56, following a Gaston layup with 3:48 remaining and the Rams would trail by four twice more over the next two minutes, the final time at 64-60, on a pair of Smith free throws at the 1:34 mark. After Pierria Henry hit one of two free throws, Frazier missed a three with 1:09 left and the Rams were forced to foul, with DeMario Mayfield hitting both of his charity shots to make it a 67-60 game with 52 ticks on the clock.
The Rams would pull to within five, 67-62, on a Gaston layup with seven seconds left but that was as close as they would get.
The 49ers opened a five-point lead, 12-7, over the first five minutes before an
Alberto Estwick three-pointer pulled Fordham to within two, 12-10, with 13:27 left in the period.
The Rams would trail by two three more times over the next five minutes, the final time at 18-16 on a Ryan Canty layup.
Charlotte scored the next nine points to take its biggest lead of the day, 27-16, on a Javarris Barnett three-pointer with 5:14 remaining in the half The Rams chipped away at the 49ers' advantage, closing out the half with a 12-5 run to make it a four-point game at the break, 32-28.
Fordham showed some spark to open the second half, getting a pair of free throws from both Gaston and Devon McMillan over the first minute to tie the game at 32 and the Rams then took their first lead of the day, 34-32, on a Bristol layup 1:26 into the half. But Briscoe responded with the back-to-back threes to give Charlotte a 38-34 lead with 17:47 remaining.
A little over a minute later, Smith knotted the game at 39 with a three-pointer and then made one of two free throws to give Fordham its final lead of the day, 40-39, with 15:57 left.
Smith finished with 14 points and three assists for Fordham while Frazier added eight points and four assists.
The Rams will return to action next Saturday, February 11th, as they host the University of Dayton Flyers in an Atlantic 10 game in the Rose Hill Gym at 1:00 p.m. The game will be televised live by the YES Network.
Notes
Gaston's 25 points brings his career total to 1,288, moving him ahead of Dave Maxwell (1980-83) and into 14th place on the Fordham all-time scoring list... He is 35 points behind Bob Melvin (1960-63) and Bill Langheld (1965-68) for 12th place... Gaston's 14 rebounds bring his career total to 850, placing him in sixth place on the Fordham all-time rebounding list... He is 67 behind John Stevens (1962-65) for fifth place... Gaston now has 50 career double-doubles in 77 career games... He also has five 20-point games this year and 22 in his career... Bristol's previous career-high for blocks was six, set against Xavier earlier this year... The eight blocks is the second most in a game for a Ram, tying him with Damon Lopez, who did it twice (1979 and 1980) and Bryant Dunston, who also did it twice (2006 and 2008)... The Fordham record for most blocks in a game is ten, set by Dud Tongal in 1979 and matched Lopez twice (1990 and 1991)... The Rams recorded eleven blocks in a game (Gaston and two and Marvin Dominique had one to go with Bristol's eight) for the third time this year... Fordham committed just six turnovers while forcing Charlotte into 16 miscues... The 53 Charlotte rebounds are the most for a Fordham opponent this year... The 49ers have won eight of the nine meetings... Fordham is now 1-7 in games played on Saturdays in 2011-12.
