The outcome was what everyone thought it would be, but getting there was not.
Fordham gave No. 11 Butler all it could handle in front of a sold-out crowd at Rose Hill Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon but ultimately fell short, losing to the Bulldogs 68-63.
“That was a great win,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “It’s easy to say well one team is going to win, but winning is hard. [It was] a very tough, physical game.”
At the start of the game it looked as if Butler (21-5, 8-3 Atlantic 10) was going to rout the Rams as the Bulldogs opened the game with seven straight points before the Rams remembered it was supposed to be a game.
“I was happy with the effort,” Fordham head coach Tom Pecora said. “We played a very competitive game against an outstanding team.”
In his first game since Jan. 16, Gaston brought the Rams back into the game as he helped fuel a 9-0 run that stunned Butler and gave Fordham the lead. Gaston would once again bring Fordham to within four after scoring eight straight points for the Rams late in the second half. The senior forward finished with 21 points to lead Fordham.
“I was very happy with Chris coming back,” Pecora said. “We have a senior on the floor, an all-conference player on the floor. He gives us greater depth.”
For a while it looked like there would be a scene similar to the one that took place at the historic Bronx gym last year when the Rams upset nationally-ranked Harvard at home. Fordham would go up by as many as six in the first half and jump out to a five point lead in the second half.
“I feel like it was a game we should have won,” Gaston said. “We had them on their heels and we should have come out with a win.”
The turning point came with the game tied at 35 with 14:37 left to play, when Fordham forward Ryan Rhoomes was whistled for an intentional foul when he contested a Kameron Woods dunk that sent the 6-foot-9 sophomore crashing to the ground.
“You have to call [the foul],” Stevens said. “You foul from behind you have to call like that. It wasn’t a dirty play by any means, but it is an intentional foul by the way the rule is written.”
Furious at the call, Rams head coach Tom Pecora was assessed a technical foul as the Bulldogs were in the midst of an 8-0 run that would give them the lead over Fordham (6-20, 2-9 A-10)for good.
“I think this rule is very discretionary,” Pecora said. “Part of changing the culture is not having people come into this gym, including those wearing striped shirts, thinking they know the outcome of a game already. I got the technical because I wanted one and I wanted to let them know that we were good enough to win that basketball game. I was very upset with that call.”
Butler was fueled by its strong shooting from beyond the arc, primarily from senior guard Rotnei Clarke who drilled four 3-pointers and led all scorers with 22 points. Fordham in comparison couldn’t buy a bucket from long range. The Rams finished shooting just 4-of-19 from 3-point range.
“[Rotnei Clarke] stemmed the tide,” Stevens said. “Rotnei’s a game-changer with his ability to make shots, there’s no doubt about that.”
The Bulldogs, coming off of a loss at home to Charlotte on Wednesday night, also received a boost in their frontcourt with the return of Andrew Smith. Smith’s return helped Butler gain a slight edge on the glass, outrebounding Fordham 42-38 for the game.
“The thing that Fordham does statistically better than most is rebound,” Stevens said. “With Andrew in the game I felt better about free throw rebounds.”
The Rams received solid contributions from freshmen forwards Rhoomes and Travion Leonard. The young duo combined for 18 points and 17 rebounds.
“The development of [Rhoomes and Leonard], two freshman big men, shows the future is bright on the baseline. We were still there because of the commitment to defense and rebounding.”
Despite the loss being Fordham’s sixth in a row, the crowd at Rose Hill was as loud as ever and certainly would have stormed the court had Fordham completed the miracle upset.
“This is what it’s all about, this is what it has to be,” Pecora said. “This is the kind of crowd that you need if you are going to compete and win on a regular basis on this level. The student body was wonderful. I can’t imagine having more fun.”
asulla-heffinger@nypost.com