Dec. 30, 2000
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - Arseni Kuchinsky had 12 points and six rebounds as Fordham overcame from a poor start to beat George Mason 64-55 Saturday night in the consolation game of the Cable Car Classic.
Bevon Robin also scored 12 points and Teremun Johnson added 11 for Fordham (7-4), which stopped a three-game skid.
George Evans had 17 points and 14 rebounds for George Mason (7-4), which lost its second straight after a four-game winning streak.
Fordham, which led 30-25 at halftime, jumped out to a 39-27 advantage - its largest margin to that point - on Michael Haynes' 3-pointer with 14:40 left.
George Mason came within 49-47 on Erik Herring's 3-pointer with 5:34 to go, but couldn't get any closer.
The Patriots jumped out to an early 12-2 lead on Herring's slam dunk with 12:45 left in the first half.
The Rams managed just seven points in the first 10 minutes of the game, but Steve Canal narrowed it to 14-10 on a layup and free throw with 9:46 to go.
Fordham went ahead 19-18 on a pair of layups by Kuchinsky, who finished the first half with nine points.
The Patriots wrestled back a 23-21 advantage on Evans' layup with 3:57 before the half, but Jason Harris made two straight 3-pointers and Fordham went ahead 27-23 and kept the lead for the rest of the way.
No. 2 Stanford defeated Fordham 86-60 in the first round Friday night. Santa Clara defeated George Mason 78-76 in double overtime to face the Cardinal in the title game Saturday night.
Robin, the Rams' leading scorer this season, had a six-day layoff coming into the tournament because of a right foot injury.