Mandell Thomas’ Heroics Not Enough for Men’s Basketball

Amherst, Mass. (February 28, 2015) – The Fordham University men's basketball squad was looking to pick up its second Atlantic 10 road win of the year at the site of the Rams' first ever A-10 road victory, the University of Massachusetts' Mullins Center on Saturday. Despite a career-high 29 points from junior Mandell Thomas Fordham came up just short, falling to the Minutemen, 82-74.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 9-18 overall, 4-12 in the Atlantic 10, while Massachusetts, who snapped a three-game losing streak, improves to 17-12 overall, 10-6 in the conference.
 
Thomas hit a career-best seven three-pointers in the game and his 29 points bring his career total to 1,008 as he became the 35th Ram to accumulate more than 1,000 career points.
 

Christian Sengfelder, who was celebrating his 20^th birthday, also scored in double figures for the Rams with 17 points, and he added six rebounds, while Ryan Rhoomes finished with nine points and eight boards for the visitors.
 
Prior to the game, the Fordham coaching staff preached to the team the importance of rebounding against UMass but the Minutemen controlled the boards, outrebounding the Rams, 42-28, including 19-10 on the offensive glass.
 
The Rams trailed by three, 77-74, after a Jon Severe acrobatic layup with 1:10 left, a play that was set up by a Sengfelder block and rebound at the other end.
 
Fordham got the ball back when Massachusetts was called for an offensive foul with 42 seconds on the clock. Following a timeout, the Rams worked the ball around the perimeter but couldn't find an open look as Thomas settled on an off-balance three with 24 ticks left that was off, one of only three long rang misses for Thomas on the day.
 
Massachusetts corralled the rebound and Derrick Gordon sank two free throws a second later to extend the Minuteman lead to five, 79-74, and the home squad hit three of its four free throws over the final 12 seconds to secure the win.
 
Fordham opened an 11-5 lead over the first 4:33 with Thomas contributing a pair of three-pointers in the opening run. But Massachusetts responded with 12 unanswered points to take a 17-11 lead with 11:21 remaining in the half.
 
The Minutemen led by six again, 20-14, with 8:05 left when the Rams used an 8-1 spurt to tie the game at 22 two minutes later.
 
A Sengfelder jumper with just over four minutes remaining tied the game again for the Rams at 27 and ignited a 12-4 Fordham run as the Rams took a 37-31 lead with 14 seconds remaining on a pair of Severe free throws. But a last second UMass basket cut the Fordham advantage to four at the break, 37-33.
 
The Minutemen took advantage of some Fordham miscues early in the second half to open the period with a 16-4 run and take a 49-41 lead just over five minutes into the second half.
 
But the Rams didn't back down as an Eric Paschall layup and Thomas three brought them within three, 49-46, with 13:32 left.
 
Massachusetts got the lead back to eight again later in the half, 59-51, but a Sengfelder layup and Paschall three pulled the Rams within three again, 59-56, at the 8:54 mark.
 
The Rams whittled the Minuteman lead down to three five more times over the next 7:44, the final time at 77-74 on the Severe layup with 1:10 left.
 
The Rams return to action on Wednesday, March 4, as they host the Duquesne University Dukes in an Atlantic 10 matchup at 7:00 p.m. in the Rose Hill Gym for Senior Night. The game will be the final home contest for Fordham seniors Bryan Smith, Nihad Musovic, DC Gaitley and Erando Halilaj along with manager Nick Stanaj.
 
Notes
Thomas' previous career best was 25 points, set against VCU in 2014 and matched against George Mason this year… Thomas surpassed Fordham assistant coach Tom Parrotta on the Fordham all-time scoring list… Parrotta finished his Fordham career with 998 career points… Thomas recorded four steals in the game to bring his team-leading total to 62… He has at least one steal in all but two games this year… Sengfelder scored in double figures for the 14^th time this year… The Rams wore their road whites for the game as UMass elected to wear black uniforms in recognition of Black History Month… The game was played on the 75^th anniversary of Fordham appearing in the first ever televised college basketball game (but today's game was not televised)… The Rams led at halftime for the sixth time over the past eight games… The Rams scored more than 70 points for the sixth time over the past nine games and are averaging 71.6 ppg over that stretch… Fordham shot 13-for-15 from the charity stripe and are now shooting 167-for-209 (79.9%) from the line over the past 12 games… Despite allowing 19 offensive rebounds, the Rams were only outscored 18-16 in second chance points… Fordham fell for just the fourth time in 12 games when leading at the half this year.