Published: November 17, 2010

The atmosphere in the Rose Hill Gymnasium was electric as the Fordham faithful watched a strong Rams rally fall short, as the Rams lost to the Brown University Bears 69-65 on Nov. 12.

In his first game as the Rams head coach, Tom Pecora wanted to open the season with a victory to erase the bitter memories of the previous year. Last season, the Rams finished 2-26 overall.

In the season opener, the Rams struggled offensively in the first half. Looking sloppy at various times, the Rams were unable to move the ball around effectively.

“We came out a little too hyped up,” Pecora said at the press conference following the game. “We didn’t execute our game plan, especially in the first half. But we lost the game at the free throw line.”

The Rams were shaky from the free throw line having success on only 12 of 21 attempts, roughly 57.1 percent. This difficulty from the line could have been the cause of Fordham’s weak first half, as they finished down 27-40 at the buzzer. “You can’t shoot 57 percent from the free throw line and win close games,” Pecora said.

However, there was a silver lining to the Ram’s offense. Fordham forward Chris Gaston, Fordham College  at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’13, the 2010 Atlantic 10 (A-10) Rookie of the Year, dazzled the crowd as he recorded his 20th career double-double, with 21 points and 17 rebounds, while also contributing two blocks and two steals. Three other Rams, Senior Brenton Butler, FCRH ’11, Junior Alberto Estwick, FCRH ’12 and Freshman Brandon Frazier, FCRH ’14, connected for 17, 13 and 11 points respectively.

The Rams finally got their offense going in second half by scoring five straight points. Off of a connection from Butler, a Gaston layup and a Butler free throw, the Rams got within 40-32 with 17:46 left to play.

The Bears fought back though, scoring five points of their own with a Tucker Halpern three-pointer. This seemed to wake up the Rams’ sleeping offense, as they went on a 13-2 tear, lead by guard Estwick, who put up 10 points during that span.

With just under 10 minutes to play in the second half, Brown  sophomore forward Andrew McCarthy made a jump shot to increase Brown’s lead to 49-45. Brandon Frazier responded with a three-pointer, to make it a one-point game with 9:14 left to play.

Throughout the second half, the offensive momentum seemed to shift back and forth between Brown and Fordham. Brown had just finished a 9-1 run on a Sean McGonagill three-pointer to make it a 58-49 game with 7:27 to go. This lead was short-lived, however, as Fordham stormed back with 10 unanswered points, five of which were given to them by Brown fouls. Fordham took a 59-58 lead on a Butler free throw with 4:48 remaining, and the crowd erupted. However, it was Fordham’s first and only lead of the second half.

Following Fordham’s run, forward Tucker Halpren retook the lead for Brown, making connections on a jumper and a three-pointer to put the score at 63-59 with 3:10 left. Brown would add another point on Andrew McCarthy’s free throw to make it 64-59 with only 1:32 remaining in the second half.

The Rams answered back 15 seconds later with a Butler three-pointer, to make it 64-62, but that was as close as they would get to recapturing the lead. The Rams fell apart in the last in the last 30 seconds, allowing five points to be scored off of their fouls. The last play of the game was a Butler three-point basket, but it was in vain, as the Rams dropped a close game 69-65.

“We need to play a 40-minute game,” Rams forward Chris Gaston said. “We picked it up in the second half but we got to play 40 minutes.”

Following the game, Pecora said he did see some positives during the game, such as Marvin Dominique’s 10 rebounds and Brandon Fraizer’s five assists, in their respective Fordham debuts. Pecora also mentioned something he wanted to fix: the players’ attitudes when things were not going well. “When guys make a mistake, they’d put their heads down,” Pecora said. “I told them we don’t do that here anymore. We learn from our mistakes now and play through them. You keep your heads up now. You’re Fordham.”

The Rams may have lost their season opener, but with an accomplished new coach, a combination of new talent, and powerful experienced players, this season should be fun to watch.