Game Story - Kurt Ritzman

Kevin Anderson dribbled the length of the court and scored the game-winning basket on an uncontested dunk with 4.3 seconds left to give Fordham a 76-74 victory over Xavier, Sunday afternoon.
Anderson had missed seven of his nine shots prior to making the most important shot of his young career. The Fordham Rams improved to 6-9 overall, and 2-2 in Atlantic 10 play, while dropping the Xavier Musketeers to 7-6, 1-2. Three of Xavier’s six losses have been by less than three points, with a fourth loss coming in triple overtime.
Xavier went on a 13-2 run to tie the game at 72 all with 50 seconds remaining in the game. Dedrick Finn, Xavier point guard, hit both of the three-pointers that he attempted during this run, the first coming with a minute and a half to go, and the second was the game-tying basket. Finn had only scored two points before that point. Finn had success distributing the ball, finishing with a game-high six assists.
This certainly was a game of runs, as Fordham went on a 17-3 run to take a 63-51 lead with 7:11 remaining. Corey McCrae, a junior guard that transferred from Wagner when Coach Dereck Whittenburg left Wagner to take the Fordham job, ignited this run. McCrae scored on all four three-point baskets he attempted during the run, and finished with 15 points, hitting on five of six three-point attempts for the game.
Fordham took their largest lead of the first half at 26-18 with 4:57 remaining. After that, Xavier went on a 9-0 run which Justin Cage and Stanley Burrell ignited. Cage and Burrell were Xavier’s leading scorers as they each finished with 19 points. Cage also added seven rebounds, which made him Xavier’s leading rebounder. Six of his rebounds were offensive. Xavier led 31-30 at halftime.
Fordham obtained their largest first half lead with an 11-4 run. Marcus Stout led this run scoring six of the eleven points. Stout finished with 14 points.
Bryant Dunston kept Fordham in the game when they weren’t on their runs. Dunston scored Fordham’s first six points to start the game, and finished with a double double. He was the game’s leading scorer with 23 points, and also the leading rebounder with 11 boards. Nine of Dunston’s 23 points came on foul shots, where he hit all but two that he attempted.
These two teams can only be expected to improve over time, as each team only played one Senior in their match-up. This lack of senior leadership could be responsible for the frantic, sloppy style of play that was especially evident early in the game. Fordham especially is buying into this “youth movement” philosophy as they start three freshman, and those freshman starters scored 46 of Fordham’s 76 points against Xavier.