Gutsy-effort falls short for Bonnies in season finale at Fordham :: Rams advance to A-10 Tournament; Brown and White end season at 8-22

March 8, 2008

BRONX, N.Y. - In a game that featured a combined 45 fouls and had a postseason feel to it, Fordham held off a stubborn St. Bonaventure club, 69-62 on Saturday afternoon in a physical Atlantic 10 battle at Rose Hill Gym.

The Brown and White's trio of seniors combined for 45 points bring their final two-game total to 108. Senior Tyler Relph capped his career with a team-high 20 points, his third-straight 20-point game, in a full 40 minutes. Zarryon Fereti also went the duration collecting 13 points and eight boards, falling just two rebounds shy of his first career double-double. Forward Michael Lee battled foul trouble the entire game and eventually fouled out with 12 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes.

The game was basically a postseason game for the Rams, as the win extends the Rams season for at least another weekend. With the win, Fordham (12-16, 6-10) will now head to Atlantic City, but will have to wait until this evening to find out its seed.

Seniors Marcus Stout, Sebastian Greene, and Bryant Dunston ended their home careers in style, scoring a game-high 21 points, 16 points and 12 points, respectively. Dunston added 11 rebounds for his league-leading 15th double-double of the season.

In a tightly played final 20 minutes, the lead changed hands seven times in the opening nine minutes of the final frame. Fordham broke a 44-44 tie with a 6-0 run and doubled up the Bonnies, 18-9, from the 11-minute mark until the scoreboard read 62-53 game 1:34 left.

Trading free throws for baskets, St. Bonaventure was able to whittle the deficit down to a one-possession game, 65-62, with 25 tics left on the clock. Fordham hit just 1-of-2 free throws on several occasions down the stretch, allowing the Bonnies to creep back into the ball game.

Unfortunately, for the Brown and White, Fordham didn't miss the rest of the way sinking its final four shots from the charity stripe to seal the win.

In a physical, grind-it out ball game, St. Bonaventure held a 36-29 edge on the glass. Junior D'Lancy Carter had a big hand in that, grabbing 11 rebounds while adding 12 points for his fifth career double-double.

The Bonnies shot 46 percent (21-46) from the floor, but converted just 61 percent (14-23) of its free throws, including 7-of-14 in the second half. Fordham shot 44 percent (22-50) from the field and made 17 of its 28 free throw attempts.

St. Bonaventure took an early 11-5 lead as four of the five starters got into the scoring act. The Bona frontcourt opened the scoring as Lee hit a tough turnaround jumper from the baseline and Carter recorded a put-back and a jumper from just inside the arc. Relph drilled a three-pointer and Fereti capped things with a layup.

Following an acrobatic three-pointer from Relph and two free throws from Lee made it a 16-8 game, the Rams reeled-off the games next 13 points to storm into the lead, at 21-16. Fordham's All-Conference big man Dunston gave the Bonnies fits on both ends of the court, scoring five points, but more importantly drawing two fouls on freshman Matt Morgan and Lee's second. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt was forced to call at timeout at the end of the run as Sebastian Greene capped things with a pair of thunderous dunks over several Bonnie defenders.

Out of the timeout, Relph ended the Fordham run and a four-minute scoreless streak with a nifty runner in the lane. Playing with two fouls, Lee returned the favor to Dunston, drawing his second foul and sending him to the bench for the remainder of the half. Lee sank both free throws to trim the deficit to one, 21-20.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Stout and Herb Tanner shifted the momentum back to the Rams and gave them a 27-20 lead with 6:37 left.

That momentum was short-lived as a technical foul on senior Michael Binns sparked a game-changing 12-0 Bona run that saw Fordham go six minutes without points. After drawing the technical foul on Binns, Relph hit ensuing free throws to start things. Fereti made it a four-point possession with a fade-away jumper and another Carter put-back made it a one-point game, at 27-26.

After a few open possessions by Fordham, freshman Malcolm Eleby weaved his way through several defenders for a coast-to-coast lay-in to give the visitors at 28-27 lead. Following a Carter free throw, Fereti signed off the run with a three-pointer with 1:44 remaining in the half for a 32-27 score.

The Rams used three free throws in the final two minutes to cut it to a 32-30 game at the break.

Greene broke Fordham's eight-minute field goal drought with the first bucket of the second half to make it 32-32.

St. Bonaventure ends its first season under Mark Schmidt with an 8-22 mark.