Men's Basketball Falls at Harvard, 64-52

Cambridge, Mass. – Fordham sophomore guard Joseph Chartouny celebrated his 22nd birthday today but unfortunately he had to do it from the bench due to an injury he suffered on Wednesday. And the Rams weren't able to give him a birthday present win as Harvard used a strong second half to defeat the Rams, 64-52, in the Lavietes Pavilion.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 5-4 while Harvard improves to 2-4.
 
After the Rams held the Crimson to shooting 41.7 percent in the first half, Harvard heated up in the second half, hitting ten of its 18 field goal attempts (55.6 percent) to outscore Fordham 35-27 in the period and pull away to the win.
 
Both teams entered the game averaging at least eight three-pointers per game but it was the Crimson who took advantage of the long-range field goal today, hitting nine to just five for the Rams.
 
Defensively Fordham forced 16 Harvard turnovers, including ten steals, but the Rams could only convert the Crimson miscues into 19 points.
 
Javontae Hawkins led Fordham with a game-high 17 points and he added a season-high nine rebounds.
 
Trailing 29-25 at the half, the Crimson scored the first four points of the second half to extend their lead to 33-25 before a layup pulled the Rams within six, 33-27, three minutes into the half.
 
After a Harvard basket, Nemanja Zarkovic and Christian Sengfelder hit back-to-back three-pointers and Will Tavares took a feed from Antwoine Anderson to the hoop to tie the game at 35 with 14:05 remaining.
 
Harvard scored the next six points to build a 41-35 lead three minutes later before a Sengfelder trifecta  with 10:51 on the clock and a Hawkins lay in 29 seconds later made it a one-point game, 41-40.
 
A 9-0 Harvard run helped the Crimson take a 50-40 lead with 7:33 remaining but the Rams came back with a 7-2 spurt to cut the deficit to five, 52-47, following a Hawkins three-pointer at the 5:29 mark.
 
But Harvard responded with eight answered points to take a commanding 60-47 lead with 2:43 left and the closest the Rams would get from that point was ten, 60-50, with 1:50 remaining.
 
The Rams return to action on Thursday night, December 8, as they travel to Queens to face the St. John's University Red Storm at 6:30 p.m.
 
Notes
Harvard has now won three straight over Fordham but the Rams lead the all-time series, 8-6.
 
The Rams have registered double figure steals totals in each of the past eight games.
 
Fordham grabbed a season-high 14 offensive rebounds and scored 12 second chance points.
 
The Rams were whistled for a season-low 16 fouls.
 
The five made three-pointers was a season-low for Fordham.
 
The game was the eighth this year in which the Rams committed fewer turnovers that their opponent (Fordham is now 5-3 in those contests).
 
Sengfelder entered the game ranked 25th in the nation in three-pointers attempted with 58 but attempted only five today.