When you think college basketball, Kennesaw State is probably not the first school that comes to mind.

After Fordham’s 79-66 loss at the KSU Convocation Center in Georgia Tuesday night, the Rams know all about the 5-7 Owls.

Despite 51 combined points from Chris Gaston and Brenton Butler, Fordham lost its fourth straight game to fall to 2-9 on the year. Gaston had 26 points and 12 rebounds, notching his eight double-double of the year. Butler finished with 25 points, tying his season-high.

However, the good news stopped there for Fordham. Kennesaw State outrebounded the Rams, 45-36, including 18 offensive boards which the Owls converted into 19 second-chance points.

No other Ram scored more than seven points.

Freshman guard Rayner Moquete played his first game for Fordham after joining the team three days ago. Moquete played four minutes and missed his only shot from the field.

Charles Costello

Playing its first of five straight road games, Fordham traveled to James Madison Tuesday night, and for the game’s first 20 minutes, it looked like the Rams would enjoy an early Christmas treat.

After leading 41-32 at the half, Fordham connected on just 12-of-39 shots (30.8 percent) in the second half after shooting 51.4 percent (18-for-35) from the floor in the first half, and eventually fell to the Dukes, 85-73. The loss drops Fordham to 2-8 on the year.

“They came out strong in the second [half] and took the lead,” Fordham head coach Jared Grasso said, as reported by fordhamsports.com. “We came back to regain the lead, but in the end we missed too many layups and couldn’t keep them off the offensive boards.”

Chris Gaston scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Rams. Brenton Butler added 16 points and Fahro Alihodzik had 10 rebounds.

ZagsBlog.com is reporting that former Fordham point guard Jio Fontan has decided to join the USC Trojans.

According to the report, Fontan visited Miami and USC before making his decision. He was supposed to visit Tennessee and Alabama this past week, but after last weekend’s visit to L.A., Fontan was sold on becoming a Trojan.

“I’m really happy,” Fontan told ZagsBlog.com. ”I think I made a great decision. I love California. I love the campus. Coach [Kevin O'Neill] is mad cool. I’m in the Pac 10.”

Fontan led Fordham in scoring and assists as a freshman, but attempted to get out of his scholarship last off-season before eventually deciding to return to Rose Hill after his requests were repeatedly denied by the school’s administration. He played in five games this season, averaging 15 points and dishing out 21 assists before he once again expressed his desire to leave. Fontan completed the fall semester at Fordham, but will be on campus at USC for the start of the spring semester in January. 

Fontan must sit out a year and can join the Trojans in December 2010.

In a press release out of Fordham, the university made it official today announcing that freshman Rayner Moquete, a 6-1, 181-pound point guard who hails from the Dominican Republic, and who graduated from Our Savior New American School in Centereach, N.Y. last spring, will join the Rams following the Christmas break.

“Rayner is a tough and skilled point guard whose international experience will be a great addition to our program,” head coach Jared Grasso said in the release. “We’re very excited to have a quality student-athlete like Rayner join us at Fordham.”

As a senior in 2008-09, Moquete, a two-year captain, averaged 15 points, 6.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2 steals per game, shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range and 74 percent from the free throw line. As a junior, Moquete averaged 11 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals per game, shooting over 40 percent from beyond the arc.

More from the release:

A member of the New York Elite AAU program, Moquete also played with the Upstate Basketball program in the Reebok Summer Championships in Las Vegas along with Big East players Brandon Triche (Syracuse) and Dane Miller (Rutgers). He also had interest from Holy Cross, Duquesne, Georgia, and Niagara, and Davidson.

Moquete, who hails from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, also has international experience, serving as the starting point guard and captain of the Dominican Republic Junior National team. He played in tournaments in Spain, Columbia, Puerto Rico and Argentina with the national team while also attending the Adidas Nations camp in San Paulo, Brazil.

Click here to read the entire release.

Ray Floriani, a columnist for College Chalktalk, has an interesting post following Fordham’s loss yesterday to Villanova at the IZOD Center. Among his “Courtside Observations,” Floriani says that Fordham should remove the interim tag from Jared Grasso’s title and officially hire him as its head basketball coach:

“He’s committed to his job and coaches with passion and energy. Has a reputation as a recruiter but can draw up the X’s and O’s just as well. Hopefully, when it is all played out, Grasso will have an offer from the Fordham administration.” (Ray Floriani, College Chalktalk 12/19)

Floriani is also impressed with Fordham’s youth movement - notably the play of Chris Gaston, Alberto Estwick, and Lance Brown - and talks about the effort that the Rams showed in yesterday’s loss.

Read the entire article here.

Lance Brown puts up a shot in Fordham's loss to Villanova at the IZOD Center. (fordhamsports.com)

The bright lights of the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The No. 8 ranked Villanova Wildcats. And the return of senior guard Reggie Redding to the Wildcat lineup. That is what the Fordham Rams – the young, inexperienced Fordham Rams – were up against Saturday afternoon in front of 5,137 at the Meadowlands.

For the first 23 minutes, the Rams (2-7) looked up to the task. They trailed by only nine at the break, 46-37, but the Wildcats(10-1) pulled away in the second half, ending the game on a 28-8 run to hand Fordham a 96-58 loss.

“We hung in there for the first 23 minutes or so but then couldn’t score,” Fordham head coach Jared Grasso said,  as reported by fordhamsports.com. “They’re too good of a team to have that kind of drought against. That’s why they went to the Final Four last year and are a top-ten team this year.”

The Rams were just 6-for-31 (19.4 percent) from the floor in the second half after shooting 45.2 percent in the first half on 14-for-31 shooting. They were 1-for-12 from 3-point range in the second half, 3-for 12 in the first half. Fordham scored just 21 points in the second half and finished the game shooting 32.3 percent (20-for-62) from the floor and 16.7 percent from 3-point range.

“I wasn’t disappointed with our effort over the final 17 minutes, but we just didn’t make any shoots,” Grasso said. “But that’s what happens sometimes with a young team. At times we had four freshmen on the court. This is a good experience for them and it should make us a better team in the Atlantic 10.”

Chris Gaston led the Rams with 12 points, while Lance Brown had 11 points and nine rebounds. Alberto Estwick and Brenton Butler added 10 points apiece. For Villanova, Antonio Pena, Scottie Reynolds, and Corey Fisher had 17 points apiece, while Redding had 15 points in his return. For the game, the Wildcats shot 52.9 percent (36-for-68) from the floor, 62.5 percent (20-for-32) in the second half.

Charles Costello

Chris Gaston (fordhamsports.com)

Following the announcement that Chris Gaston was named Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Rookie of the Week, Fordham’s freshman forward preceded to score a career-high 32 points while grabbing 15 rebounds in 39 minutes of action against city-rival St. John’s. When all was said and done, however, Gaston’s Rams - and they’re quickly becoming his Rams - fell to the Red Storm, 73-56, to drop to 2-6 on the year.

It was a remarkable day for Gaston both on and off the court. Off the court, he was recognized for scoring 25 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in Fordham’s win over Stony Brook, his fifth-straight double-double and sixth of the season. Later that day, on the court, Gaston shot 12-of-19 from the floor and 7-of-11 from the free-throw line, thought it wasn’t enough as the Red Storm improved to 8-1 on the year with the win at Carnesecca Arena in Queens.

Gaston is the first player in the Atlantic 10 to score 30 points this season and the first Ram to score 30 points in a game since Marcus Stout scored 31 at Temple back in February 2008.

“Chris showed today why he is one of the top freshmen in the country,” Fordham head coach Jared Grasso said after Sunday’s game, as reported on fordhamsports.com. “We ask him to do a lot for a freshman but he is a special player who can compete with anyone.”

Fordham trailed 42-23 at halftime after committing 15 turnovers in the half. The Rams scored eight straight points to open the second half, but then St. John’s went on a 9-0 run to extend its lead to 20, 51-31. The Red Storm held on from there.

“I’m pleased with the way we played and competed in the second half,” Grasso said. “The effort got better in the second half and I tell the guys that we have to keep getting better every day and if we do, we’ll be successful.”

Charles Costello

Brenton Butler scored 25 points in Fordham's win over Stony Brook. (fordhamsports.com)

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

As the weather outside gets colder, Fordham’s shooting appears to be getting hotter. That is good news for the Rams.   

Fresh off a dismal shooting performance in Saturday’s loss to Bowling Green – the Rams shot 23.8% from the floor that night - Fordham looked like a different team in Tuesday’s 93-77 win over the Stony Brook  Seawolves. The Rams shot 51.7% from the floor, 52% from 3-point range, and 69.2% from the free throw line. In its two previous games, Fordham scored a combined 90 points. Tuesday night was a different story.   

“I thought it started with our defense,” head coach Jared Grasso said. “We weren’t shooting the ball well early on, then we made a couple of shots and got it going. I want to play fast, I want them to play free, and tonight they did.    

“With our spacing and the style we’re going to play, they’re going to have opportunities to take a lot of shots and tonight they got it going. I was comfortable with the shots they took.”   

There is no better example of Fordham’s change in fortunes than senior Brenton Butler, who moved over to the point guard position to replace the departed Jio Fontan. Butler was 0-for-13 just three nights earlier, but wearing No. 22 instead of his usual No. 24, Butler delivered, scoring 25 points and connecting on six 3-pointers.   

“It’s more of a mental struggle with me,” Butler said of his shooting problems heading into last night’s game. “It’s just keeping that confidence throughout the droughts that you may have as a shooter. I just came out and made sure I stayed focused and confident.”   

When they finally got going, the Rams went on a 9-0 run in the first half to take an 18-11 lead. Five Brenton Butler 3-pointers did the trick in the first half as the Rams went into halftime with a 44-38 lead. Butler scored 17 points in the first half.   

“We can’t be a very good team if Brenton’s not making shots,” Grasso said. “ If he’s not shooting the ball well we’re going to struggle. He’s a big part of our offense. I told him to keep shooting the ball. That’s the confidence I have in him. He came out and played confidently [tonight].”   

Fordham pulled away in the second half with Alberto Estwick getting it going down the stretch, connecting on two consecutive 3-pointers when the Seawolves pulled to within 10. From there, the Rams coasted to victory.  

Chris Gaston scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the year, and his fifth in a row. Estwick (16 points) and Lance Brown (15 points) contributed key baskets and thrived in the up-tempo system Grasso employed.

In front of an announced crowd of 1,250 at the Rose Hill Gym, Grasso picked up his first win as a head coach. Afterward, he said he’s focusing on recruiting and preparing for St. John’s, though he’ll certainly take the win.  

“It’s exciting, but I’m just moving on,” Grasso said. “It’s such a long stretch. Obviously it’s a lot better than losing. I can’t say I’m not excited. Everything moves so fast you just have to move on to the next game and the next thing.”