Bronx, N.Y. – When former Fordham head coach Johnny Bach served as an assistant coach with Chicago he was known as the architect of the Bulls' "Doberman" defense. He would be proud of his Rams tonight as they held FDU to shooting under 40 percent from the field and forced 18 Knight turnovers en route to a 68-55 win on the first day of the Johnny Bach Classic in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the win, Fordham improves to 2-1 on the young season while FDU falls to 1-2.
Antwoine Anderson
Junior
Christian Sengfelder and graduate transfer
Javontae Hawkins provided the Rams wit offense with Sengfelder scoring a game-high 18 points, shooting 4-for-8 from behind the arc, and he added seven rebounds, while Hawkins netted 16 points, going a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe, and adding six rebounds.
For the first time in three games this year, the Rams outrebounded their opponent, 36-33, with sophomore
Jesse Bunting leading the way with a career-high eleven caroms.
Fordham led by 13 at the half, 43-30, and a Sengfelder dunk 2:17 into the second half and the Rams led by 14, 49-35, with 14:23 left when the Knights mounted a comeback attempt, scoring eleven unanswered points to cut the Fordham lead to three, 49-46, following a DaRon Curry jumper with nine minutes remaining.
Sengfelder halted the Fordham offensive dry spell with a three-pointer 17 seconds later but a Mike Holloway layup at the 7:43 mark pulled FDU within four, 52-48.
Another Sengfelder long distance shot ignited a 12-2 Fordham spurt as the Rams took a commanding 64-50 lead with 2:50 left. Sengfelder and sophomore guard
Joseph Chartouny each netted five points in the run.
Fordham opened the game with a 12-2 spurt over the first six minutes and the Rams would increase the lead to 13, 30-17, on a Hawkins three-pointer with five minutes left in the half.
The Knights trimmed the Fordham advantage back to five, 31-26, two minutes later before the Rams closed out the period with a 12-4 run to take the 43-30 halftime lead.
Redshirt junior guard
Antwoine Anderson and Chartouny also scored in double figures for Fordham with eleven points each and Chartouny added five assists and four steals.
The Rams continue play at the Johnny Bach Classic on Saturday as they host the Saint Peter's University Peacocks at 3:00 p.m.
Notes
Fordham never trailed in the game.
The Rams have now won both games against FDU.
Fordham has now recovered double-digit steals in each of the past two games.
The Rams shot 84.6% (22-26) from the free throw stripe.
Bunting's previous career-high for rebounds was seven, set on Monday night vs. NYIT.
