Fordham University Athletics

Playing a Big 10 team who is leading the nation in rebounding on the road is tough. Playing said game with three forwards unavailable is even tougher. But the Fordham men's basketball squad gave a gallant effort tonight, giving Rutgers University all they could handle before falling to the Scarlet Knights, 75-63, in the Rutgers Athletics Center.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 4-6 on the season while Rutgers improves to 9-3.
 
The Rams were already without the services of junior forward Jesse Bunting and sophomore forward Chuba Ohams, both out due to injury, and found out before tonight's game that junior forward Prokop Slanina would also be out of action because of illness.
 

Freshman guard/forward Ivan Raut did his best to keep Fordham in the game, scoring a game-high 19 points, shooting 5-for-10 from behind the arc, leading four Rams in double figures. Senior Will Tavares finished with eleven for Fordham while junior David Pekárek and senior Perris Hicks each netted ten.
 
Both teams got off to slow starts on offense but the Scarlet Knights managed to build an 18-9 lead midway through the first half before the Rams used an 8-2 spurt to scale the Rutgers lead to four, 20-16, following a pair of David Pekárek free throws with 7:07 remaining.
 
After Raut's second four-point play, the Rams trailed the Scarlet Knights by just two, 28-26, with 4:00 on the clock and Fordham was down two, 30-28, a minute later before Rutgers closed out the half with six unanswered points to take a 36-28 lead into the break.
 
Rutgers opened the second half with an 11-6 run to build the lead to 13, 47-34, four minutes into the period and got the advantage to as many as 22, 65-43, with 6:15 left.
 
The Rams started to cut into the Scarlet Knights' lead by using the long ball, Fordham netted 13 unanswered points, keyed by three three-pointers, to trim the home team's lead to nine, 65-56, following a Tavares layup at the 3:40 mark but that was as close as the Rams would get.
 
 
Takeaways
The Rams dressed only seven scholarship players tonight and ten players total.
 
Ivan Raut recorded back-to-back four-point plays in the first half, scoring eight points in a span of 23 second.
 
Will Tavares has now scored in double figures in all ten games for the Rams this year.
 
David Pekárek started in place of Slanina, his first start of the year.
 
The all-time series with Rutgers is now tied at 27 wins each.
 
 
By the Numbers
2 – Three-pointers made by Rutgers, tying a season-low for a Fordham opponent this year.
 
5 – Three-pointers made by Ivan Raut, who entered the game with five total three-pointers in his previous five games combined, a season-high.
 
5 – Blocks in the game for the Rams, a season-high.
 
7 – Rebounds for Ivan Raut, a season-high (previous high was four which he accomplished twice).
                                                                                                                                                                                
8 – Assists by Joseph Chartouny, a season-high (career-high is 14 vs. NYIT in 2016).
 
11 – Three-pointers made by the Rams, tying their season-high.
 
186 – Career steals by Joseph Chartouny, good for seventh on the Fordham career list.
 
346 – Career assists for Joseph Chartouny, good for tenth on the Fordham all-time list.
 
 
What's Next
The Rams take some time off for finals before returning to action on Thursday, December 21, as they host the Florida A&M University Rattlers in the historic Rose Hill gym at 7:00 p.m.
 
The game will be the first meeting between the two schools.
 
The Rams are 7-3 all-time against teams currently in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).