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Bronx, N.Y. (November 1, 2013) – Fordham fans got their first look at the 2013-14 men's basketball squad tonight and they liked what they saw. Branden Frazier scored a game-high 23 points and Mandell Thomas added 20 to lead the Rams to a 98-80 exhibition win over Northwood University in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
Fordham won the game with a solid defensive effort, holding the Seahawks to shooting 35.6% (26-63) from the field, by protecting the ball, committing just seven turnovers in the contest, and by controlling the paint, outscoring Northwood, 44-20, in the lane.
 
Part of the reason for the Rams' low turnover total was the fact the head coach Tom Pecora started a four-guard lineup with Bryan Smith and Jon Severe joining Frazier and Thomas with Ryan Rhoomes as the fifth starter.
 
The newly configured lineup helped Fordham jump out to a 10-4 lead 3:30 into the game, with Frazier and Thomas accounting for four points each.
 
Northwood scored the next five points to pull to within one, 10-9, on a Chris Solomon three-pointer, two minutes later, but the Rams responded with eleven unanswered points, four each from Frazier and Severe, to take a 20-9 lead following a Travion Leonard jumper with 12:39 left in the half.
 
The Seahawks cut the Fordham lead back to seven, 20-13, over the next minute, but the home squad reeled off an 8-0 spurt to increase the lead to 15, 28-13, following a pair of Frazier free throws with 9:38 remaining.
 
The Rams built the lead to as many as 20 in the half, 50-30 on a Leonard three-point play with just over a minute left and took a 50-33 advantage into the break.
 
Northwood cut the Fordham lead to 15, 56-41, early in the second half, and again at 68-53, midway through the period, but the Rams used a Smith three-point play and a pair of Severe free throws to bump the lead back to 20, 73-53, and the closest the game would get from that points would be 17, 86-69, with 4:16 remaining.
 
Frazier and Thomas each shot 6-for-11 from the field with Frazier adding seven rebounds and five assists and Thomas five boards and four assists. Smith added a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds while Leonard (17) and Severe (15) also finished in double figures.
 
The Rams will open the 2013-14 season on Friday night, November 8, as they host the Saint Francis (Pa.) University Red Flash in the Rose Hill Gym at 8:30 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on the SNY Network.