Game 31: Men at Fordham

The men's team travels to the Bronx, NY tonight to face Fordham (6-8, 0-2) at the Rose Hill Gym. GW (5-6, 1-0) is coming off of an impressive 49-20 win over Saint Louis at the Smith Center on Thursday night. In that one, Damian Hollis had his third career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Maureece Rice added 12 points and five rebounds. The Billikens' 20 points were the lowest single-game total in Division I play since the shot clock was introduced in 1985.

The Rams, who were picked to finish fourth out of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference, return all five starters from the squad that went 18-12 and lost in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. Fordham is led by preseason First Team All-A-10 selection 6-8 senior forward Bryant Dunston (15.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks per game this season) and Third Team pick 6-4 senior guard Marcus Stout (14.2 points). 6-2 sophomore guard Branton Butler is also averaging double figures in scoring (11.4 points, 4.3 rebounds). Coach Dereck Whittenburg is 59-74 in his fifth season at Fordham; he is 126-124 in nine seasons as a head coach. Whittenburg is famous for air-balling the shot that led to Lorenzo Charles' ally-oop slam in N.C. State's upset win over Houston in the 1983 NCAA Tournament title game.

The Rams have lost three-straight, most recently 68-50 at #24/25 Xavier on Saturday. In that one, Dunston had 19 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks, but Fordham was outscored by 12 points in the second half. The Rams opened A-10 play with a 74-62 loss at Duquesne on Wednesday. Fordham is only 3-3 at home this season, having lost to Robert Morris and UNC-Greensboro.

This is the 21st-ever meeting between these programs; GW is 16-4. The last meeting was the A-10 opener for both squads on January 3, 2007, which the Colonials won 70-59 at the Smith Center. In that one, Rice had 17 points and six rebounds, while Regis Koundjia added 10 points and six rebounds. Stout was the only Ram in double figures in scoring with 15 points. The Colonials have won eight-straight in the series and are 7-2 at Fordham. Coach Karl Hobbs is 7-0 against the Rams in his career, while Whittenburg is 0-6 vs. GW.

While GW's win on Thursday was extremely impressive, I'm not convinced the ship has been righted just yet. While Fordham has played badly at home, GW has been horrendous on the road. The pick here is the Rams in a close one.

Julian Gompertz and Jordan Teller have the call for WRGW with Adam Rosenbloom handling production duties. You can listen to the broadcast here on tape delay following the conclusion of the women's game, which tips-off at the same time. Our own Paul Marmaro will join Byron Kerr for the 3WT broadcast. You can listen here starting at 6.50 p.m.

Game notes: GW has lost all six of its games away from the Smith Center this season...The Colonials are 11-14 in their last 25 games away from the Smith Center...GW has won nine-straight against A-10 opponents...The Colonials' last loss in the series was 80-75 at Fordham on January 20, 2001...As a senior, Rice is 45-11 in A-10 play over his career...Rice is averaging 11 points per game in four career games against the Rams...Rice needs four points to pass Ronnie Nunn for 35th place in program history...Rice needs 21 points to pass Mike Tallent for 34th place in program history...GW is 4-0 when leading at halftime and 1-6 when trailing...The Colonials are 5-1 when holding opponents under 70 points.

Starting lineups and other notes to follow from the Rose Hill Gym once we get closer to tip-off. Please check back later.

Update, 9.57 p.m. - Here were the starting lineups:

GW
G - Maureece Rice (6-1 senior from Philadelphia, PA)
F - Damian Hollis (6-8 sophomore from Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
F - Rob Diggs (6-8 junior from Brandywine, MD)
F - Hermann Opoku (6-9 sophomore from Vienna, Austria)
C - Joseph Katuka (6-10 freshman from Zaria, Nigeria)

Fordham
G - Brandon Butler (6-2 sophomore from Norcross, GA)
G - Kevin Anderson (6-3 senior from Westerville, OH)
G - Marcus Stout (6-4 senior from Southfield, MI)
F - Bryant Dunston (6-8 senior from Queens, NY)
F - Sebastian Greene (6-9 senior from Frankfurt, Germany)

Well, there was the 19-3 run to start the second half to feel good about. However, Fordham was too much down the stretch, as the Rams rallied for a 13-point win. Diggs had 19 points and five rebounds, and he was joined in double figures in scoring by Rice (13 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists) and Hollis (11 points, 10 rebounds), who had his second-straight and fourth career double-double. GW's perimeter defense was extremely porous, as the Rams hit 11 three-pointers.

The men will be back in action on Saturday night when they host #20/20 Xavier. The Musketeers will certainly be fired up after losing at Temple by 19 tonight. As always, thanks for stopping by.