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Bronx, N.Y. (December 28, 2013) –The Fordham University men's basketball team found out the hard way today that it's difficult to play catch up against a team like Harvard University. Every time the Rams scored and appeared ready to go on a run, the Crimson would find an answer, not allowing Fordham to mount the comeback, as Fordham fell to Harvard, 94-86, in front of a sold out Rose Hill Gym.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 7-5 while Harvard improves to 11-1.
The Rams fell despite Braden Frazier netting a game-high 31 points and
Jon Severe adding 29, 27 of those coming in the second half when Fordham attempted to come back from a 17-pount deficit. Frazier shot 11-for-20 from the field and added seven assists while Severe was 5-for-9 from behind the arc and he grabbed six rebounds.
Trailing by eleven at the break, 43-32, the Crimson came out and scored the first six points of the second half to take its largest lead of the day, 49-32, a minute into the period.
A pair of Frazier free throws 14 seconds later halted the Harvard run but the Crimson led by 15, 56-41, three minutes later when the Rams used a 15-6 run to pull to within six, 62-56, on a Severe three-pointer with 10:30 remaining, his fourth trifecta in the run.
Steve Moundou-Missi was fouled on Harvard's next offensive possession. He made his first free throw and missed the second, but Kyle Casey was able to get the rebound for the Crimson feeding Siyani Chambers who hit a three-pointer to turn the six-point Fordham deficit into a ten-point shortage, 66-56.
That play was the beginning of a 14-5 Harvard run as the Crimson got its lead back to 15, 76-61, with 7:27 left. But the Rams started to chip away at the Crimson advantage, scoring eight straight points to get it down to seven, 76-69, following a
Bryan Smith jumper with 4:44 on the clock.
After Harvard got the lead back to ten, 81-71, the Rams went on an 11-5 run to make it a four-point game, 86-82, after a pair of Frazier free throws with 31 seconds remaining. Severe had five points in the run and Frazier four.
But Harvard hit all eight of its free throws over the final 21 seconds to hold on for the win.
The game started out close, with five ties over the first eleven minutes, the final at 25 on a Casey jumper. The Casey basket was the first of 15 straight Harvard points as the Crimson took advantage of cold Fordham shooting to take a 38-25 lead with 3:50 left in the half.
The Rams were able to get the Harvard lead down to ten twice over the final two minutes before the visitors took the 43-32 lead at the break.
The Rams return to action on Monday night, December 30, as they travel to Albany, N.Y., to face the Siena College Saints in the Times Union Arena at 7:00 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on Time Warner Cable's SportsChannel.
Notes
Frazier's 31 points brings his career total to 1,304, moving him ahead of Dave Maxwell (1980-83) and into 14
th place on the Fordham career list… He is 19 points behind Bob Melvin (1960-63) and Bill Langheld (1965-68) for 13
th place… The 31 points is just two behind Frazier's career-high of 33, accomplished earlier this year at Syracuse… Fordham's 33 field goals was a season high (previous high was 31)… The Rams outrebounded Harvard, 37-33… Former Ram P.J. Carlesimo and former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason were among the sold out crowd… The game was the fourth 80-point game of the year for Fordham… The 86 points were the most scored by Fordham in a loss since the Rams scored 100 in a 111-100 loss at Duquesne in 2010… Fordham still leads the all-time series, 8-5… The win was Harvard's first in five attempts in the Rose Hill Gym.
