Men’s Basketball Takes Down UMass, 76-66

Photo Gallery
 
Video


Bronx, N.Y. – The last time the Fordham men's basketball team accomplished what they accomplished tonight, most of the current players were in elementary or middle school. For it was 2007 when the Rams last defeated a team twice in the regular season a feat they repeated tonight in beating the University of Massachusetts Minutemen, 76-66, in an Atlantic 10 game in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 13-11 overall, 4-9 in the Atlantic 10, while UMass falls to 11-14 overall, 4-9 in the conference. The 13 overall wins are the most for the Rams since 2006-2007 while Fordham improves to 12-4 at home, the most home wins since the 1967-1968 season (the 1990-1991 team also won 12 times at home).
 
Defense and offense were both on display during a 27-0 first half run by the Rams that turned an 18-9 deficit into a 36-18 lead with 3:15 left in the half. The Rams connected on ten of their eleven shots during the run while UMass was scoreless on five shots and turned the ball over four times.
 
In the game, Fordham held the Minutemen to shooting 40.4% (23-57), including 36.4% (12-33) in the second half. From long distance, UMass connected on only seven of 27 attempts (25.9%) compared to 10-for-24 for the Rams.
 

Ryan Rhoomes led the Rams with his second straight double-double, scoring ten points and grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds, and he also blocked four shots. Four other Rams finished in double figures, led by Joseph Chartouny who had 16 points and eight assists, while Jon Severe (13), Christian Sengfelder (11) and Nemanja Zarkovic (11) also scored more than ten points.
 
Fordham opened the game slowly, falling behind 14-6 7:39 into the game and then going down by nine, 18-9, with 9:51 on the clock.
 
Severe got the Fordham run started with a three-pointer at the 9:32 mark, the first of four straight threes by the Rams, with two of those coming from Zarkovic. By the time the run ended, appropriately on a Severe three, the Rams found themselves with a 36-18 lead.
 
The Minutemen got the Fordham lead down to 13, 38-25, but Antwoine Anderson took a pass from Chartouny and threw down a dunk at the first half buzzer to give Fordham a 15-point lead at the break.
 
Massachusetts scored the first eight points of the second half to cut the Fordham advantage to seven, 40-33, on a Donte Clark three 2:37 into the half but Sengfelder answered with a three  for Fordham to boost the lead back to ten, 43-33, with 16:53 left.
 
The Minutemen would get within nine twice over the next two minutes, the final time at 47-38, but a David Pekarek three put the Rams up 12 at 12:51 and Fordham never trailed by single digits the rest of the way.
 
The Rams return to action on Saturday, February 20, as they travel St. Louis to face the Saint Louis University Billikens in an Atlantic 10 game at 8:00 p.m. (EST) for a game that will be televised on the American Sports Network (ASN) and seen in New York on SNY.
 



Notes
Fordham defeated both Duquesne and St. Bonaventure twice during the regular season in 2006-2007 (the Rams have beaten George Mason twice in each of the past two years but the second game came at the Atlantic 10 Championships).
 
Zarkovic's eleven points were a season-high, surpassing his previous best of nine versus La Salle, while his three three-pointers ties his career-high.
 
Rhoomes' 13 rebounds give his 846 career rebounds, good for seventh on the all-time list, while his four blocks brings his career total to 134, fifth all-time at Fordham.
 
Rhoomes has scored in double figures in 22 of the 24 games this year and has eight double digit rebounding games.
 
Rhoomes has seven double-doubles this year and 14 in his career.
 
Chartouny's eight assists bring his season total to 106 as he becomes just the third freshman in school history to surpass 100 assists in a season (Jean Prioleau holds the school freshman record for assists in a season with 130 in 1988-1989).
 
Mandell Thomas missed his fourth straight game with an injury.
 
The Rams outscored the Minutemen 19-9 in points off turnovers and 24-16 in bench points.
 
Fordham outrebounded UMass, 36-31, and are now 10-2 this year when outrebounding the opponent.
 
The Rams also improved to 10-1 when leading at the half this year.
 
The game was the fourth this year with five Rams scoring in double figures (Fordham is 4-0 in those games).