Box Score
Washington, D.C. (February 8, 2014) - In the first half it seemed as if George Washington could sink a shot from the Washington Monument (the one on the Colonials' newly designed home court which features the monument, the White House and the U.S. Capital, though a heave from the Washington Monument on the National Mall wouldn't have been out of the question). The Colonials shot a sizzling 75.9% over the first twenty minutes and Fordham couldn't find an answer as the Rams fell to George Washington, 93-67, in an Atlantic 10 game in the Charles E. Smith Center on Saturday.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 9-13 overall on the year, 2-7 in the Atlantic 10, while George Washington improves to 19-4 overall, 7-2 in the conference.
The Rams knew that they would have to come out strong to quiet George Washington's sold out Homecoming crowd but the Colonials got the crowd into the game from the get go as they won the tip and, ten seconds later, a Patricio Garino dunk served as a spark plug for both the fans and George Washington, who scored 17 of the first 20 points to take a 17-3 lead at the 13:35 mark.
A
Bryan Smith tip-in 30 seconds later halted the Colonials' opening run and the Rams trailed by 12 again, 20-8, following a
Branden Frazier three with 12:25 left in the half when George Washington used an 11-2 spurt to build the lead to 21, 31-10, midway through the half.
A 6-2 Fordham run got the deficit to 17, 33-16, on a Frazier jumper with 7:38 on the clock but the Colonials would eventually get the lead to as many as 29, 56-27, with 1:50 left before Fordham scored the final six points of the half to trail the home team, 56-33, at the break.
Fordham scored six of the first eight points of the second half, four of those from
Mandell Thomas, to make it a 19-point game, 58-39, following a Frazier basket 2:10 into the half but that was as close as Fordham would get.
Frazier led the Rams with a game-high 23 points and he added five rebounds while Thomas added 18 points, six rebounds and four steals.
The Rams return to action on Wednesday night, February 12, as they host the St. Bonaventure University Bonnies in the Rose Hill Gym at 9:00 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on SportsNet NY (SNY).
Notes
Frazier's 23 points brings his career total to 1,469, good for tenth on the Fordham all-time scoring list 55 points behind Brenton Butler (2006-11)… Frazier's three assists move him to 456 all-time, good for second on the Rams' career assists list… Fordham, who entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 in free throw shooting, connected on its first 15 free throws of the game, finishing the contest 18-for-20 from the charity stripe… The Rams matched a season-high with ten steals (Fordham also had ten at Siena)… The Rams have never beaten the Colonials in Washington, D.C. (12 games)… The 56 points scored by George Washington in the first half were the most by a Fordham opponent in the first half this year (previous high was 47 vs. St. John's)… Former Ram Dan Blaine was in attendance.
