Men's Basketball Defeats FAMU, 79-69

Bronx, N.Y. – In ancient Rome, it was common to offer gifts of imitation fruit, dolls, and candles on the Winter Solstice. Tonight the Fordham University men's basketball squad gave gifts of three-pointers (12), steals (11) and assists (19) to their fans as the Rams defeated the Florida A&M University Rattlers, 79-69, in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 5-6 on the season while Florida A&M falls to 1-14.
 
Sophomore guard Tre Evans led four Fordham scorers in double figures with a season-high 20 points, shooting 6-for-7 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc, and he added four rebounds and four assists. Senior guard Will Tavares (19), junior guard Joseph Chartouny (15) and junior forward Prokop Slanina (14) also finished in double figures with Chartouny adding six assists and five steals.
 
Fordham led from start to finish, with the exception of the first 19 seconds which were scoreless. The Rams used an 11-5 run midway through the first to turn a 12-11 lead into a 23-16 advantage with 10:53 left following a Perris Hicks three-pointer and Fordham would build the lead to as many as eight, 38-30, on a Slanina three-point play with 1:53 on the clock but the Rattlers outscored the Rams 6-2 over the final 1:24 to cut the Fordham halftime lead to four, 40-36.
 
The Rams opened the second half with a 5-2 spurt to stretch the lead to seven, 45-38, but Florida A&M wouldn't go away, eventually getting the Fordham lead to two, 56-54, with 10:28 remaining. The Rams responded with nine unanswered points to take a 65-54 lead on an Evans three-point play with 7:05 on the clock.
 
The Rattlers managed to get the Fordham advantage to three, 69-66, with 2:15 left but over the next 1:35 the Rams netted eight straight points, five of those from Evans, to put the game away.
 
Takeaways
Will Tavares has scored in double figures in all eleven games this year.
 
Tavares matched his season-high with seven rebounds.
 
Joseph Chartouny, who matched his season-high with five steals tonight, has at least one steal in all eleven games this year.
 

All eight shots attempted by Chartouny tonight were from behind the arc (he made four of them).
 
David Pekarek missed the game due to injury.
 
Sophomore guard Cavit Havsa matched his season-high with four assists.
 
The Rams have recorded double-digit steal totals in seven of the eleven games this year.
 
Fordham is now 4-1 this season when scoring 70 points or more.
 
It was the first ever meeting between the two schools on the hardwood.
 
Fordham is now 8-3 all-time against schools currently in the MEAC.
 
By the Numbers
12 – Three-pointers made by the Rams, a season-high (previous high was eleven against LIU and Rutgers).
 
20 – Points for Tre Evans, a season-high (previous high was 17 against East Tennessee State).
 
48.0% (12-25) - Three-point shooting percentage for Fordham, a season-high.
 
191 – Career steals for Joseph Chartouny, moving him ahead of Joe Paterno (1985-1989) and into sixth place on the Fordham career list.
 
352 – Career assists for Joseph Chartouny, moving him ahead of Tony McIntosh (1981-1985) and into ninth place on the Fordham career list.
 
636 – All-time wins for the Rams in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
1,513 – All-time wins by Fordham.
 
What's Next?
The Rams take to the road, traveling to Morgantown, West Virginia, to face the West Virginia University Mountaineers in the WVU Coliseum on Saturday, December 23, at 12:00 p.m.
 
The game will be the third meeting between the two schools.
 
The Mountaineers won both of the previous matchups, including a 61-37 win on December 23, 1949 in West Virginia in the last meeting between the two schools.