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Bronx, N.Y. (December 23, 2013) – It may be safe to say that this game was won for the Fordham men's basketball program last September, when head coach
Tom Pecora brought in members of
The Program to train the Rams for two days in leadership development and team building. That work paid off today as Fordham turned to that experience to overcome a first half deficit to defeat Loyola (Ill.) University, 83-69, in the Rams' 600
th win the historic Rose Hill Gym.
With the win, Fordham improves to 7-4 on the year, the first 7-4 start for the Rams since 200-01, while Loyola falls to 5-7.
Fordham becomes the 12
th school to win 600 games on its home court and now has an all-time record of 600-335 in the Rose Hill Gym.
Tonight's matchup between Fordham and Loyola was just one of many this season between the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities across the United States. Dedicated to academic rigor, research, faith and serving others, Jesuit Catholic education stands at the intersection of minds, hearts and souls. Alumni at the game tonight are just some of the more than 2 million Jesuit graduates in America.
Pecora surprised the Rams with an appearance from Sam Cila, a member of The Program team who worked with the Rams in September, prior to the game. But it looked as if Cila's appearance would go for naught as the Rams trailed by nine at the half, 38-29, before
Jon Severe, who was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for the third time this season before the game, led Fordham back, scoring 20 of his game-high 23 points in the second half.
The Rams also rallied behind their defense, holding Loyola to just two three-pointers on eleven tries in the second half, after allowing the Ramblers to shoot 60.0% (6-10) from long distance over the first 20 minutes.
After taking the nine-point deficit into the break, the Rams opened the second half with energy, outscoring Loyola 12-2 over the first four minutes to take a 41-40 lead on a
Bryan Smith three-pointer.
Travion Leonard opened the period with a put back and Smith connected on a three-pointer 30 seconds later to make it a 38-34 game. A Matt O'Leary jumper bumped the Ramblers' lead back to six, before consecutive
Ryan Rhoomes layups pulled the Rams to within one, 40-38.
A minute after the Smith trey, a Jeff White layup put the visitors back in front, 42-41, and Loyola would lead by one again with 14:12 remaining, 44-43, when a Severe layup gave Fordham the lead for good, 45-44, with 13:51 on the clock.
The lead would fluctuate between one and three points for Fordham until a Leonard basket with 9:46 left started a 7-0 spurt to turn a 49-48 lead into a 56-48 advantage with 8:29 left following Smith's third three-pointer of the half.
Later in the half, the Ramblers got the Fordham lead down to four, 66-62, on a White three-pointer with 3:06 remaining when a Severe three-pointer started an 11-2 run as the Rams took a commanding 77-64 lead with 38 seconds left as Fordham made all 14 of its free throws over the final 1:21 to secure the win.
Smith finished with 17 points and seven rebounds for the Rams while
Branden Frazier added 16 and nine assists and Rhoomes also netted double figures with 14 while also pulling down six rebounds and recording three steals.
The Rams return to action on Saturday, December 28, as they host the Harvard University Crimson in the Rose Hill Gym at 4:00 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on SportsNet NY( SNY).
Notes
Rafael Rodriques and Christian Laureno DeJesus, Wounded Warrior Project alumni, presented the officials with the game ball prior to tip-off… The Rams are now 1-1 all-time against Loyola and 186-198 all-time against fellow Jesuit schools… Fordham, who entered the game tops in the Atlantic 10 and 26
th in the NCAA in free throw shooting percentage, was 21-for-23 from the charity stripe tonight to increase their season percentage to 76.6% (187-244)… Severe led the Rams at the line tonight, making all eleven of his free throws, while Frazier, who leads the Atlantic 10 free throw shooting made all six of his, to bring his season percentage to 90.3% (65-72)… Frazier's 16 points brings his career total to 1,273, good of 15
th place on the school's all-time scoring list, five points behind Dave Maxwell (1980-83) for 14
th… Frazier's nine assists ties his season high, set earlier this year against Furman… The Rams were without the services of sophomore
Mandell Thomas, who missed the game with an injury… The 54 second-half points scored by Fordham is the most in a half this year and the most for a Fordham team in a half since Fordham scored 54 in the second half against Monmouth last year (the Rams have two 50-point halves this year, scoring 53 in the second half at Syracuse)… The game was Fordham's fourth 80-point game this year… Fordham committed a season-low six turnovers.
