Seniors Luke Devine, Chris Bethel, and Zach Wing were honored in a pregame ceremony at Rose Hill on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Joe DiBari)

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

Prior to Saturday’s season finale at Rose Hill, the Fordham community said goodbye to the departing seniors Luke Devine, Zach Wing, and Chris Bethel. Though their Fordham careers were very different, the three shared the stage on Saturday. Joined by family and cheered on by fans, Devine, Wing, and Bethel stood at center court for the pregame ceremony.

“I can’t say enough [about the seniors],” Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg said after the final game of the season had ended. “I think Chris [Bethel] was coming around [before getting hurt] and it looked like he was going to have a strong finish to his senior year. More importantly, I’m just happy he’s going to get his degree from Fordham…Zach Wing came to us as a walk-on. This kid used to take the bus from Queens at 3 a.m. to make practice at 6 o’clock. I can’t tell you what this guy’s meant to us…We need more Luke Devine’s. This kid gave us everything he had. He’s an excellent student, a great teammate. I just love having him on the team. I wish I had five or six more Luke Devine’s.”

Alberto Estwick drives to the basket during Saturday's season finale against Saint Joseph's. (Photo courtesy of Joe DiBari)

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

Since the season got underway last November, there have only been a handful of moments at the Rose Hill Gym that have electrified the crowd. Down by double digits in the last game of the year, a year where Fordham has the unfortunate distinction of being one of two Atlantic 10 teams left out of the conference tournament, the Rams gave fans one final emotional jolt before bowing out in yesterday’s season finale.

Trailing 60-36 with 9:56 to play, the Rams proved to have one final run left in the tank. A basket by Alberto Estwick and two consecutive layups by Jio Fontan cut the Saint Joseph’s lead to 60-42. After Luke Devine hit one of two free throws, Fordham experienced it’s “Rudy” moment of the season, a three-pointer by the walk-on Matt Beck from the right corner that cut the lead to 14 and sent the crowd into a frenzy. It was at that moment that the Rose Hill Gym came alive, perhaps more alive than at any other point this season. But that emotion and optimism soon died as the Hawks responded by scoring the next six points to get the lead back to 20 with 2:39 remaining. Moments later, two consecutive three-pointers by Estwick came too late and with Fordham too far behind. Eventually, the Rams would fall to Saint Joseph’s, 71-54. Fordham ends the season with a 3-25 record, 1-15 in the Atlantic 10.

“The first half really set us back,” Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg said. The Rams trailed 37-18 at halftime. “We didn’t run our offense. Saint Joseph’s did a nice job taking advantage of our miscues. They got some nice plays on the fast break and took a commanding lead.

“We got back in the game in the second half after making some adjustments. It was a different game in the second half. We had our chances. I applaud our guys effort against a [very good St. Joseph’s team].”

Jio Fontan scored 15 points and had four assists and four rebounds, though he shot just 5-of-24 from the floor. Playing with a chest muscle injury, Fontan struggled shooting the basketball and was in noticeable pain throughout the game. Still, the freshman was on the court for 36 minutes. Estwick led the Rams with 16 points, five rebounds, and five assists.

The shooting struggles that have plagued the Rams all year surfaced again in the season finale. Fordham shot just 33.3 percent for the game, hitting only 20 field goals while shooting 5-of-17 from three-point range. The Rams were 9-of-19 from the free throw line.

In their Fordham finales, Luke Devine and Zach Wing got plenty of playing time after receiving the customary senior-day starts. Devine played 26 minutes and scored five points to go along with five rebounds. Wing had two points and five rebounds. On a questionable call at best, Devine fouled out of the game with 5:47 to play, in the middle of the Rams’ run that saw them cut the Hawks’ lead to 14. Wing came out of the game with 1:01 remaining. Both seniors, who before the game were honored along with fellow senior Chris Bethel, received standing ovations from the 2,626 in attendance.

Jio Fontan (Photo courtesy of Joe DiBari)

The article I’ve been promising you on Jio Fontan was published this morning on College Chalktalk (A born leader in the Bronx).

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of sitting down with Fontan to get his thoughts on his first year at Rose Hill and the future of Fordham basketball. As you can read in the article, Fontan says he’s happy here at Fordham and he’s optimistic about the program’s future. Fontan wants to win, and he’s determined to do whatever it takes to make that happen. Talented yet humble, Fontan has become the face of Fordham basketball. That’s a pretty good deal for both the player and the school.

College Chalktalk is a website devoted to covering the Atlantic 10 Conference. I want to thank Chris DiSano, President and Managing Editor, for the opportunity to contribute to his site. As I’ve said before, the site is a must-read for fans of the A-10, and I urge Fordham SportsNet readers to visit College Chalktalk on a daily basis.

Charles Costello

Though his play has been spectacular, Jio Fontan has been bothered by a chest muscle injury that would likely keep most players off the court. (Photo courtesy of Joe DiBari)

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

It’s one of the great unsung stories to emerge in this very trying season for the Fordham Rams.

Freshman Jio Fontan has developed into one of the better guards in the Atlantic 10, perhaps on his way to becoming one of the top guards in the country. He currently leads all Atlantic 10 freshmen in points (15 ppg) and assists (4.7 apg). It’s clear that the Rams have the point guard position locked up through the 2011-12 season. No breaking news there.

Unnoticed, and for the most part unmentioned, is the injury Fontan suffered earlier in the season, and the pain he experiences playing through it every day.  At times, Fontan can be seen grimacing in pain. It’s become common to see the team trainer give him medical attention during timeouts. And when his jersey comes off a supportive brace covering his right side is exposed. As usual, however, Fontan is all about the team, not once choosing to speak of the injury or to use it as any type of excuse.

“The best way to describe it is a “chest muscle” injury,” Fordham Sports Information Director Joe DiBari wrote in an email message to me earlier today. “It’s the muscle that is located near the left lung and makes everything (including breathing) a bit difficult.”

Still, nothing can keep Fontan off the court. Day after day the freshman shows up for work, choosing to play despite the incredible pain he’s constantly in. For that, and for everything else he brings to the team, Fontan has earned the respect of his teammates and coaches.

“He’s been battling, giving us all he’s got,” said assistant coach Travis Lyons, speaking about Fontan on WFUV’s postgame show Saturday afternoon. “He’s a fighter, a competitor. He’s going to be out there giving us everything he’s got.”

(My feature story on Jio Fontan will appear later this week on College Chalktalk (http://collegechalktalk.com/) including reaction to Fontan’s play and his injury from Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg)

Playing with just seven scholarship players for the fifth consecutive game, the Fordham Rams did what they could to keep up with the Charlotte 49ers Saturday afternoon in North Carolina. In the end, being down numbers hurt Fordham once again, as Charlotte improved to 11-17 on the year with a 73-55 win over the 3-23 Rams.

“I’m proud of the way my guys battled today,” Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg said after the game, as reported on fordhamsports.com. “We’re down in numbers so we have a very small margin of error and we can’t afford to give up 25 points off turnovers.”

Down by only nine at the half, the Rams made this a game until Charlotte opened the second half with a 22-8 run to take a commanding 57-34 lead with just under 13 minutes to play.

Though the Rams would respond with a 10-0 run of their own, pulling to within 13, they were ultimately plagued all afternoon by turnovers and poor shooting. For the game, the Rams shot just 36.4 percent, and their 16 turnovers led to 25 points for the 49ers. After holding a 21-15 edge in rebounding at halftime, Charlotte outrebounded the Rams 23-11 in the second half. The 49ers outscored Fordham 40-20 in the paint. With only nine players seeing action for the Rams, their bench was outscored 21-12.

“We got a great effort with our numbers,” assistant coach Travis Lyons said after the game on WFUV. “Their seniors stepped up and made some shots when we made runs. Our youth and inexperience out there hurt us.”

Mike Moore scored a game-high 20 points for Fordham, the fifth time in six games that the sophomore has scored more than 20 points. Moore also had seven rebounds, while Alberto Estwick had 12 points and Luke Devine had a team-high nine rebounds. Jio Fontan added nine points and four assists for the Rams, who lost their eighth straight game.

“We’re definitely ticked off because this is a team we thought we could beat,” Lyons said. “It’s not like we went into this game thinking we were going to lose. The guys are still battling and fighting.”

Charles Costello