Broncos Score 85 to defeat Fordham in 44th annual Cable Car Classic
Behind Marc Trasolini's season-high 22 points, in the consolation game of the 44th annual Cable Car Classic, Santa Clara defeated Fordham 85-70 on Thursday night. Santa Clara is 8-7 and Fordham is 6-6. Santa Clara hosts Bethany on Mon., Jan. 3 at 7 pm.
American won the Cable Car Classic with an 83-71 win over Delaware. Trasolini was named to the Cable Car Classic All-Tournament team along with Brenton Butler of Fordham, Jamelle Hagins of Delaware, Stephen Lampkins of American and Vlad Moldoveanu of American (MVP). Ben Dowdell was named to the Most Inspirational and Malcolm Hawkins of Delaware was named the Sixth Man Award.
"There are only three teams in the country that host their own tournament and we are the only school that has hosted one for 44 straight years. I want to first thank Art Santo Domingo for everything he does to make the Cable Car Classic a success year in and year out," said Bronco head coach Kerry Keating, who is 11-1 when the Broncos score 80+ points. "We need to not play harder when we are down and not let up when we are ahead. We continue to mature every game and with a very young back-court we need to continue to improve. We want to put Marc in a position to succeed and hope we are taking steps forward after tonight. No matter who we are playing, we need to take steps forward. Tonight was a team effort."
"We were really disappointed with the way we played last night and we knew we had to play as hard as we could tonight to get a win," said Trasolini, who added two dunks and three blocks. "Kevin's a great player, always scoring, but when he isn't we all have to contribute. If we can do that, we can win a lot of games."
Santa Clara shot 42.9 percent from the field (24 of 56) including 28.0 percent from the three-point line (7 of 25). Santa Clara collected 41 rebounds, 12 assists, 10 steals, four blocks and had 12 turnovers. The Broncos shot 30 of 40 from the free throw line. Fordham shot 38.7 percent from the field (24 of 62) including 33.3 percent from the three-point line (8 of 24). Fordham collected 35 rebounds, 16 assists, two steals, six blocks and had 15 turnovers. The Rams shot 14 of 17 from the free throw line.
Individually Santa Clara was led by Trasolini's 22 points. It was his first 20+ point game of the season and the seventh of his career. He also added eight rebounds and tied a season-high with three blocks. Evan Roquemore added 14, tying a career-high with seven assists; and Kevin Foster scored 15, including 6 of 6 from the free throw line. Troy Payne added a team-high nine rebounds, seven points and a block. Raymond Cowels III had seven points and five rebounds.
Fordham was led by Chris Gaston's 17 points and 15 rebounds. Brenton Butler scored 28 and Branden Fraizer added 11.
Fordham's Brian Freeman was whistled for a technical foul in pregame warm-ups because he dunked the ball while the officials were on the floor. Kevin Foster sank both free throws prior to the game starting so Santa Clara started the game with a 2-0 lead. This happened at Southern California as well and Foster sank both.
Ben Dowdell hit a shot at 19:17 and then was fouled when he stole the ball and sank one free throw to put the Broncos up 5-0 at 19:01. The Rams hit a bucket at 18:49. John McArthur made a nifty post move to score and then Roquemore hit a three-foot jumper to put SCU up 9-2 at 16:52. The Rams scored again at 15:41 and Payne scored in the paint at 14:18, 11-4 Broncos.
Chris Cunningham fought under the basket and scored. After a Fordham basket Foster side-stepped the defender to sink his first three. Cowels grabbed SCU's fifth steal and Roquemore scored. After Fordham's eighth turnover, Foster hit gold again with his second three, 29-17 Broncos at 7:33.
Fordham scored on two free throws. Trasolini scored a three-point play in the paint to put SCU up 32-19 at 6:58. The Rams went on an 8-1 run. Trasolini was shoved on the defensive end and made one at 3:24.
Butler's second three of the game put the Rams down by two before Trasolini crushed a three to make it 37-32 at 2:38.
The Rams scored a bucket at 2:23 and then Payne scored a three-point play at 2:06 and Roquemore hit a two-foot jumper at :56 to put SCU up 42-35. Following two free throws by Fordham, the teams went to the lockerroom with SCU up 42-37. The 42 first-half points were the most since SCU scored 43 vs. Houston Baptist on Dec. 17 on the way to a 90-67 win.
In the first half, Santa Clara shot 37.1 percent from the field (13 of 35) including 20.0 percent from the three-point line (3 of 15). Santa Clara collected 18 rebounds, five assists, seven steals and had five turnovers. The seven steals were the most the Broncos have had in the first half since they stole the ball eight times vs. Gonzaga on Jan. 28, 2010.
The Broncos shot 13 of 17 from the free throw line. Fordham shot 48.3 percent from the field (14 of 29) including 37.5 percent from the three-point line (3 of 8). Fordham collected 22 rebounds, six assists, one steal, four blocks and had 10 turnovers. The Rams shot 6 of 7 from the free throw line.
In the first half, individually Santa Clara was led by Foster's eight points (2 of 8 from the three-point line). Trasolini and Payne both had seven each with Payne adding a team-high six rebounds.
In the second half, Roquemore started the scoring with a three at 19:27 and Fordham answered at 19:08.
Kervin Bristol picked up his fourth foul on Cunningham, but he came out with a bloody lip. Trasolini sank both, putting SCU up 47-40 at 17:51. The Rams hit a basket at 17:21.
Foster hit his third three at 16:46. Roquemore scored at 15:18 and Fordham scored at 14:47. Cowels sank a three on the in-bounds and Dowdell's two-pointer make the Bronco lead 13, 57-44 at 13:33. Fordham scored on a three-point play at 13:07.
Roquemore scored two free throws at 13:07 and Dowdell scored on two of his own at 11:34, 60-49 Broncos. Harrison dunked it with authority at 10:40 and Fordham followed with a three, 62-52 at 10:33. Trasolini hit four straight free throws to put SCU up 66-54 at 8:32 and Butler answered again with a three at 8:19. A sweet pass from Roquemore resulted in a dunk by Trasolini, his 15th point.
Foster went to the line twice and scored four free throws at :42.3 and :29.3.