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Bronx, N.Y. (March 8, 2014) – Fordham University senior guard
Branden Frazier wanted to end his Rose Hill Gym career on a high note and he did his best, scoring a game-high 28 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out four assists but his potential game-tying three-pointer came up just short at the buzzer as the Rams closed out the 2013-2014 regular season with a 70-67 loss to George Washington University before a sold out crowd.
With the loss, the Rams end the regular season with a 9-20 overall record, 2-14 in the Atlantic 10, while George Washington improves to 23-7 overall, 11-5 in the conference.
Frazier shot 10-21 from the field for his 28 points while
Ryan Canty added 12 points and tied his career-high with 16 rebounds, his first double-double of the year, and
Jon Severe added eleven points. The eleven points brings Severe's season total to 509, breaking the Fordham freshman scoring record of 504 points set by
Chris Gaston in 2009-2010.
Fordham trailed by two, 67-65, following a Frazier jumper with just over a minute remaining and had the chance to tie the game after a Colonial miss with 38 seconds left. But
Jon Severe missed a layup with 30 ticks on the clock.
Fordham fouled George Washington's Maurice Creek who missed the front end of a one-and-one with 24 seconds on the clock and Frazier grabbed the rebound. Frazier brought the ball up and got off a jumper that bounced off the rim and the Rams couldn't control the rebound as it went out of bounds.
The Rams fouled Patricio Garino on the inbounds pass and Garino connected on one of two free throws with eleven second left. The Colonial fouled Frazier just as he crossed half court with six seconds remaining to avoid letting the Ram get off a three-point shot. Frazier hit both free throws and the Rams fouled Joe McDonald on the ensuing inbounds pass. McDonald converted both charity shots and Frazier quickly moved the ball to the three-point line where he got off his attempt that bounced off the rim.
Unlike the first meeting between the two teams in which George Washington jumped out to a big early lead and coasted to the win, today's game featured a close first half which included nine ties with neither team leading by more than five points.
The second half opened with four more ties over the first seven minutes, the final at 43-43 on a Creek three-pointer. Fordham answered with a
Mandell Thomas jumper and Severe three-pointer over the next minute to take a five-point lead, 48-43, but a Creek three and Garino lay in knotted the game for the 14
th time midway through the half.
A pair of Frazier free throws with 9:09 left put the Rams up two, 50-48, and Fordham would take a five-point lead, 61-56, on a Thomas layup when the Colonials scored nine straight points to take a 65-61 lead on a Garino layup at the 3:07 mark, and George Washington led by four, 67-63, again with 1:28 left after a pair of Armwood free throws before Frazier made it a two-point game with his jumper at the 1:06 mark.
The Rams will open play at the 2014 Atlantic 10 Championship by facing the George Mason University Patriots in the Barclays Center on Wednesday night, March 12, at 7:00 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on the A-10 Digital Network.
Notes
The Rams started their three seniors today as
Leo Walsh and
Khalid Robinson joined Frazier in the starting lineup… Frazier's 28 points brings his career scoring total to 1,598, good for ninth on the Fordham all-time scoring list… The game was his third straight 20-point game… Frazier now has 16 20-point games this year and 28 in his career… Frazier's four assists bring his career total to 487, good for second on the Fordham all-time list… Canty tied his career-high in rebounding, which he originally set against St. John's in 2012, and his 12 points were a season-high, surpassing his previous high of eight against Lehigh… Canty, who is averaging 9.6 rpg over the past seven games, notched his fifth career double-double… The Rams outrebounded the Colonials by 17, 46-28, tying the team's largest rebounding margin of the year for Fordham (the Rams also outrebounded Lehigh by 17)… 18 of Fordham's 46 rebounds were offensive and the Rams turned those into 23 second chance points… It was Alumni Day at Fordham as the Rams welcomed back over 20 former players… It was also a sort of Homecoming for George Washington special advisor John Fitzpatrick, who served as an assistant coach under Nick Macarchuk at Fordham from 1988 until 1993.
