Photo Gallery Bronx, N.Y. (January 28, 2015) – Fordham University outrebounded Rhode Island 38-36 in tonight's Atlantic 10 game in the historic Rose Hill Gym. But it was the final rebound of the game for Rhode Island that was the difference as Gilvydas Biruta put back a miss at the buzzer to lead Rhode Island to a 64-63 win over Fordham.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 5-13 overall, 0-7 in the Atlantic 10, while Rhode Island improves to 14-5 overall, 6-2 in the conference.
The loss overshadowed strong performances by Fordham's
Eric Paschall, who scored a game-high 19 points, and
Ryan Rhoomes, who recorded his third double-double of the year with ten points and 16 rebounds.
Ryan RhoomesA pair of
Mandell Thomas free throws put the Rams up one, 63-62, with nine seconds left. Rhode Island inbounded the ball and got it to E.C. Matthews who drove in from the right side but missed a layup. The ball was tipped and grabbed by Biruta who put it in at the buzzer for the game-winner.
Unlike the previous two games, Fordham got off to a fast start tonight, jumping out to a 9-4 lead 3:15 into the game with seven of those points coming from Paschall.
The game was tied at 14 with 11:57 left in the half when Fordham went on a 13-5 run to take its biggest lead of the night, 27-19, on a
Jon Severe three-pointer with 7:33 remaining. Severe had nine of the 13 Fordham points in the run.
Rhode Island chipped away at the Fordham lead, eventually tying the game at 31 on a Jarvis Garrett jumper with 1:13 in the half but a Rhoomes free throw with just under a minute remaining gave Fordham a 32-31 lead at the break.
Fordham opened the second half with a 7-2 spurt to take a 39-33 lead 2:05 into the half and Fordham led by seven, 48-41 following a pair of
Christian Sengfelder free throws with 12:25 on the clock.
Two Jared Terrell free throws 13 seconds later started a run of six straight Rhode Island point as the visitors made it a one-point game, 48-47, midway through the half.
Rhode Island eventually knotted the game at 53 on a Terrell jumper with 6:03 left. The game would be tied four more times over the next 5:54, the final at 62 on the first of Thomas' free throws with nine seconds left.
Severe netted a season-high 17 points for Fordham while Thomas added nine points and four assists.
Fordham returns to action on Sunday, February 1, as they travel to Dayton to face the University of Dayton Flyers in an Atlantic 10 game in the UD Arena at 2:00 p.m.
NotesPaschall had season-highs for free throws made (8) and free throws attempted (10)... He is averaging 18.7 ppg in the seven Atlantic 10 games… Rhoomes' 16 rebound were one shy of his career-high of 17 set against Siena earlier this year… He also had four blocks… Severe's previous season-high was 12 against George Washington last week… He is averaging 14.5 ppg and is shooting 60.0 percent from the field (12-20) over the past two games… Thomas had two steals in the game to bring his team-leading total to 40… It was the 12
th time this year that Fordham has outrebounded its opponent (the Rams are 5-7 in those games)… Rhode Island shot only 40.7 percent (11-27) from the free throw line and actually shot better from the field (41.8 percent) than from the charity stripe… Actor/comedian Bill Murray was in attendance… His son, Luke, is an assistant coach for Rhode Island… The Fordham football team, the 2014 Patriot League champions, was honored at halftime.
