Just when senior Marcus Stout was finally returning to his old sharp-shooting form, just when senior Bryant Dunston's nightly, gritty double-double performances were not being wasted, and just when the Rams were back to playing tough, aggressive basketball, the Fordham men's basketball team threw it all away yet again and left itself on the verge of missing the Atlantic 10 tournament.
The Rams went 1-3 over the past two weeks, including two straight critical home losses to La Salle and Dayton and an overtime loss at St. Louis. Now in a 12th place tie with George Washington for the last spot in the A-10 tournament at 5-9 (11-15) overall, Fordham's situation is dire indeed.
Coming off wins against Massachusetts and Charlotte, the Rams traveled to St. Louis on Feb. 20 to face the then 5-6 Billikens, with a chance to continue their run up the A-10 standings.
Fordham led by 10 early in the second half after part one of a dominating performance by Dunston, who played all 45 minutes and tallied 30 points and 13 rebounds, but St. Louis came back to take the lead with 11:55 remaining. Despite Dunston's continued strong play, a lack of contribution from the rest of the Rams saw the Billikens eventually stretch their lead to five with 3:08 remaining.
Dunston then missed a three-pointer but fought for his own rebound, got fouled and made a free throw (he was 8-11 on the day). On the next possession, senior Kevin Anderson missed a lay-up, but Dunston cleaned up, grabbing the rebound and putting it up and in to get within two. He was not done yet, though.
Down 57-53 with 21 seconds remaining, sophomore Brenton Butler missed a three, but Dunston was there again to get the offensive board and the put back. He was fouled on the play and made the free-throw too, cutting the lead to one.
St. Louis leading scorer Kevin Lisch, who had 22 points on the day, made two more clutch free throws to extend the lead to three, but Fordham still had a chance, which they took full advantage of. With 4.3 seconds left, Butler found Stout on the perimeter, who drained the three-pointer to send the game into overtime.
2008 Woodie Awards
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