Box Score
Hamilton, N.Y. (December 10, 2013) – Prior to tonight's game with Colgate, the Fordham coaching staff identified some keys to winning the game which included limiting the Raiders' three-point shooting and controlling the boards. For the first 20 minutes the Rams seemed to have problems executing the game plan but the second 20 minutes were a different story as Fordham dominated the glass and held Colgate to three three-pointers and pulled out a 77-73 win on Cotterell Court.
The win improves the Rams' record to 5-3 on the year while Colgate falls to 4-4.
Colgate entered the game leading the NCAA in three-pointers made (12.1/game) while the Rams were the yin to the Raiders' yang, leading the nation in three-point shooting defense (21.9%). Tonight Colgate had the better play from behind the arc over the first ten minutes, hitting four of its first ten long distance shots, but the Rams switched to a man-to-man defense for the final 30 minutes and held Colgate to just four three-pointers on 13 tries the rest of the way.
The story on the boards was similar as Colgate outrebounded the Rams 20-12 in the first half but Fordham controlled the glass in the second, recording 18 rebounds to just ten for the home squad and outscoring Colgate 9-0 on second chance points over the final 20 minutes.
Mandell Thomas was a key to Fordham's strong second half, scoring 14 of his 18 points in the half while
Branden Frazier netted 13 of his game-high 27 points in the period.
Trailing 41-34 at the break, the Rams opened the second half with a 12-5 run to take a 46-45 lead, the Rams' first lead since 2-0 in the opening seconds, on a
Mandell Thomas three-point play 4:11 into the period.
The score would be tied twice over the next three minutes before the Raiders scored eight straight points to break a 52-52 tie and take a 60-52 lead following a Luke Roh layup with 8:49 remaining.
A Frazier layup just under a minute later started a 9-2 Fordham spurt as the Rams pulled to within one, 62-61, on a
Travion Leonard layup with 5:09 left.
Colgate bumped the lead to four, 67-63, three minutes later, but a Rhoomes three-point play and a Frazier jumper put the Rams up one, 68-67, with 1:38 remaining.
After the Raiders took a 70-68 lead on a Damon Sherman-Newsome three-pointer, Leonard knotted the game with a put back of a Frazier miss with 46 seconds left.
On Colgate's ensuing possession, Thomas stole the ball for the Rams and was fouled, nailing both of his free throws to give Fordham a 72-70 lead with 31 ticks on the clock.
Following a Colgate missed three, Thomas got the rebound and fed
Bryan Smith who was fouled and Smith made booth charity shots with 16 seconds left to make it a 74-70 game.
Five seconds later, Austin Tillotson made two free throws for Colgate to cut the Rams' advantage to two, 74-72, before Frazier hit one of his two free throws with ten seconds remaining to give the Raiders one last chance to tie the game. But Fordham fouled Tillotson with six seconds left and Tilloston made the first free throw before intentionally missing the second but the Rams controlled the rebound and Thomas made two free throws with four seconds left to secure the win for the Rams.
Fordham won the tap and the ball went right to
Jon Severe, who went to the hoop, to give the Rams an early 2-0 lead.
Colgate led by one, 10-9, with 14:11 left in the half and then went on a 16-5 run to take a 26-14 lead midway through the half and led by ten four times over the next seven minutes, the last at 37-27. But the Rams closed out the half with a 7-4 spurt to make it a seven-point game at the break, 41-34, thanks to a pair of Frazier free throws with 0.7 seconds left.
Leonard added ten points and four rebounds for the Rams while Rhoomes chipped in with nine points and eight rebounds.
The Rams return to action on Saturday, December 14, as they host the Howard University Bison in the Rose Hill Gym at 2:00 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on SportsNet NY (SNY).
Notes
Frazier's 27 points bring his career total to 1,230, moving him ahead of Jason Harris (1997-2001) and Michael Haynes (2000-04) and into 17
th place on the Fordham all-time scoring list… He is three points behind Darryl Brown (1972-75) for 16
th… Fordham recorded its second non-conference road win for the first time since 2007… Fordham outscored Colgate 23-7 from the free throw stripe… The Rams have now won two straight over Colgate and lead the all-time series, 20-10.
