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Bronx, N.Y. (December 14, 2013) – For the first eight games of the season, the talk of the Fordham basketball team has been the play of the guards, specifically freshman
Jon Severe and senior
Branden Frazier, who entered today's game with Howard ranked one-two in the Atlantic 10 in scoring. Sophomore forward
Ryan Rhoomes decided it was time for the Fordham forwards to get some attention today as he recorded his second double-double of the season, scoring 19 points and adding eleven rebounds, both game-highs, to lead the Rams to a 79-60 win over Howard University in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the win, the Rams improve to 6-3 on the year, the best start for a Fordham squad since 2000, while Howard, who dropped its eleventh straight, falls to 2-11. The game was also Fordham's 599
th win in the Rose Hill Gym.
Rhoomes shot 8-for-10 from the field in scoring his career-high 19 points, eleven of those coming in the second half as Fordham recovered from a sluggish first half, outscoring the Bison, 39-27, over the final 20 minutes.
The Rams led from start to finish with the exception of a 27-27 tie with 5:57 left in the first half. Fordham led by just a point, 31-30, with 3:39 remaining in the half but closed out the period with a 9-3 spurt, led by four points from
Travion Leonard, to take a 40-33, lead at the break.
Baskets from Severe and Rhoomes to open the second half bumped the Fordham lead to eleven, 44-33, a minute in to the half, but the Bison were able to get the lead down to eight, 46-38, a minute later.
A Frazier three-pointer with 17:28 left in the game started a 7-0 Fordham run as the Rams took a 53-38 lead on a
Mandell Thomas three-point play with 15:51 on the clock.
A Marcel Boyd layup with 12:24 left trimmed the Fordham lead back to 12, 55-43, but Fordham then used an 8-1 run to take a commanding 63-44 lead following a Rhoomes layup with 8:40 remaining.
The closest Howard would get from that point would be 15, 65-50, with 7:39 remaining but the Rams scored the next eight points to grow the lead to 23, 73-50, on a Thomas layup with 5:48 left to put the game out of reach.
Frazier and Thomas each finished with 15 points with Frazier adding six rebounds and six assists and Thomas grabbing eight rebounds and notching four steals. Severe also finished in double figures for the Rams with eleven.
The Rams return to action next Saturday, December 21, as they travel to West Long Branch, N.J., to face the Monmouth University Hawks at 2:00 p.m.
Notes
Frazier's 15 points brings his career total to 1,245, moving him ahead of Darryl Brown (1972-75) and Tony McIntosh (1981-85) and into 15
th place on the Fordham all-time scoring list… He is 33 points behind Dave Maxwell (1980-83) for 14
th place… Rhoomes' previous career-high for scoring was 15, set two weeks ago versus Furman… Thomas' four steals matches his career-high, set against Lehigh earlier this year… The Rams outrebounded the Bison, 40-37… The Rams had a season-high 19 assists on 31 made baskets… Fordham matched its season-low with eight turnovers… It was the first ever meeting between Howard and Fordham on the hardwood… The win secures Fordham's third straight winning non-conference home record.
