By Jason Gonzalez
The Fordham Rams are now the losers of five straight and dropped their A-10 Conference record to 0-4 after a 63-60 loss to Saint Louis at the Rose Hill Gym Tuesday night. In their first match-up this season, for the duration of the game both teams traded baskets and missed shots at a proportioned ratio.
The Rams still managed to conclude the first half only being down by two points before a crowd of 1,778. A three pointer by forward Jesse Bunting at the buzzer brought the Rams within striking distance (34-32).
Both teams opened the second half with new found energy and motivation. Players on both teams hustled on both ends of the court. However, neither Fordham nor Saint Louis was able to take full control of the game and dominate. With under 8 minutes to go in the second half, the Rams found themselves down by only four, 49-45.
“I have come to learn that there are a lot of ways to win a game,” said Fordham head coach Jeff Neubauer. “With a little more toughness around the basket, we could have won this game, even with Nick [Honor] only scoring six points.”
At the 6:14 mark of the game, a Saint Louis offensive rebound resulted in a three-point shot being made by sophomore guard Jordan Goodwin. But the Rams responded back with some offensive production of their own. Under five minutes to go in the second half, third year guard Antwon Portley hit back-to-back 3-point shots, giving the Rams their biggest lead of the game, 57-52.
But as the game clock steadily approached expiration, the Rams attempted to hold on to their 1-point (58-57) lead. Senior guard Tramaine Isabell Jr. delivered the final blow, by making a clutch 3-point shot that gave the Billikens a 2-point lead [60-58]. Shortly after, sophomore forward Hasahn French blocked a Rams basket, ultimately giving the Billikens possession of the ball, and time to eat off the clock.
Collectively, the Saint Louis Billikens made a big shot when it counted and got a big stop when it mattered.
Goodwin dropped 20 points, grabbed nine boards, and dished out six assists. The Billikens improve to 13-4 and 4-0 in the Atlantic 10 conference and stretched their win streak to five.