St. Louis, Mo. - It was an unseasonably warm day in St. Louis but unfortunately that didn't translate into hot shooting for the Fordham men's basketball squad as the Rams shot 43 percent from the field in a 76-68 Atlantic 10 loss to Saint Louis University in the Chaifetz Arena.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 13-12 overall, 4-10 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Louis improves to 10-16 overall, 5-9 in the conference.
The Rams shot under 40 percent in the game until hitting six of seven shots over a five minute stretch as Fordham got as close as four late in the game, 60-56, before the Billikens connected on nine of their ten free throws over the final minute to secure the win.
The Fordham defense did force 18 turnovers in the game but the Rams couldn't take advantage of the Saint Louis miscues, scoring just 15 points off the turnovers.
Ryan Rhoomes led the Rams with his third straight double-double, scoring a team-high 17 points, shooting 8-for-11 from the field, and adding a game-best ten rebounds.
Christian Sengfelder also finished in double figures with 14 points while
Antwoine Anderson added eleven. Both players also blocked two shots.
Fordham trailed by 14, 57-43, with 7:20 remaining, the Rams' largest deficit, when a
Joseph Chartouny three started a 13-3 run as Fordham pulled within four, 60-56, on a Rhoomes layup with 2:46 remaining.
A Billiken three made it a 63-56 game before Anderson answered with a jumper for the Rams at the 2:03 mark to cut the Fordham deficit to five, 63-58, and the Rams trailed by five again, 65-60, just under a minute later but that was as close as they would get.
Chartouny finished with eight points and nine assists for the Rams while
Jon Severe added nine points and three steals.
The Rams return to action on Wednesday, February 24, as they travel to Philadelphia to face the La Salle University Explorers in the Gola Arena at 7:00 p.m.
NotesThe game was part of the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight, a nationwide effort to capitalize on basketball games between Jesuit schools and, through those games, bring greater positive awareness and exposure to Jesuit education and its shared mission. This project was developed by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (
AJCU) in 2008 in response to member institutions wanting to spread the word of Jesuit higher education through the more than 90 basketball games in which Jesuit institutions play each other every season.
Rhoomes' ten rebounds bring his career total to 856, good for seventh on the Fordham career list.
Rhoomes, who has scored in double figures in 23 of the 25 games this year, now has 15 career double-doubles.
His three straight double-doubles are the most for a Ram since Chris Gaston had seven straight in 2011-2012.
Rhoomes shot 8-for-11 in the game to bring his Atlantic 10-leading field goal percentage to .655 (146-223).
Mandell Thomas missed his fifth straight game with an injury.
Freshman forward
Jesse Bunting celebrated his 20th birthday on Saturday.
Fordham tied a season-low with five three-pointers made.
The Rams outrebounded the Billikens, 31-28, losing for only the third time in 13 games when outrebounding their opponent.
The Rams fell to 1-8 all-time in the Show Me State.
