Philadelphia, Pa. – Fordham head coach
Jeff Neubauer may have graduated from La Salle but that doesn't mean that he doesn't want to beat the Explorers as tonight he led the Rams into Tom Gola Arena where Fordham completed the season series sweep with a 56-53 Atlantic 10 win.
With the win, Fordham's first at La Salle since 2007, the Rams improve to 14-12 overall, 5-10 in the Atlantic 10, while La Salle falls to 6-20 overall, 3-13 in the conference. The series sweep is Fordham's first ever over the Explorers and the second series sweep for the Rams this year while the five conference wins are the most for a Fordham team since the 2007-2008 squad won six A-10 games.
Christian Sengfelder led the Rams with 16 points and eight rebounds while David Pekarek (12) and
Joseph Chartouny (11) also finished in double figures and
Ryan Rhoomes recorded his fifth straight double digit rebounding game with a game-high eleven.
The Fordham defense limited La Salle to shooting 39.6 percent in the game (19-48), 33.3 percent in the second half (8-24) when the Rams held the Explorers to shooting just 26.7 percent from behind the arc (4-15). Fordham also controlled the glass, outrebounding La Salle 38-25, allowing the Explorers only six offensive rebounds.
David PekarekThe game came down to the last shot as Chartouny hit one of two free throws with ten seconds left and La Salle got the ball to an open Johnnie Shuler in the left corner but his three-pointer clanked off the rim and was rebounded by Chartouny to secure the win.
After a low scoring first half (the Rams trailed 27-22 at the break), Fordham came out and scored 12 of the first 14 points of the second half to take a 34-29 lead on a Sengfelder layup with 13:54 left. Sengfelder had four of the 12 Fordham points in the run while Chartouny hit a three that gave the Rams their first lead of the night.
The Explorers got the Fordham lead down to two, 34-32, two minutes later and trailed by three twice over the next two minutes, the final time at 38-35, midway through the second half.
An
Antwoine Anderson layup ignited an 8-1 Fordham run as the Rams took their biggest lead of the night, 46-36, on an Anderson jumper with 7:35 remaining.
But the Fordham offense went cold as La Salle went on a 12-1 run to take a one-point lead, 48-47, on a Jordan Price three at the 4:01 mark.
An Amar Stukes layup a minute later extended the Explorers' lead to three, 50-47, but Sengfelder buried a pair of free throws with 2:34 on the clock to make it a one-point game, 50-49.
The Rams then took advantage of a La Salle turnover as a Chartouny layup with 2:00 left gave the Rams a 51-50 lead.
The Explorers turned the ball over again on their next possession but Fordham couldn't capitalize on that miscue. However, a Shuler three with just under a minute remaining fell off and Chartouny grabbed the rebound. The Rams worked the clock before Pekarek got off a three with 38 seconds left to boost the Fordham lead to four, 54-50.
After La Salle missed another three, Pekarek was fouled but only made one of two free throws with 19 seconds left and Price nailed a three-pointer five seconds later to pull La Salle within two, 55-53, before the Explorers fouled Chartouny with ten seconds remaining.
The Rams return to action on Saturday, February 27 as they host the Davidson College Wildcats for an Atlantic 10 game in the Rose Hill Gym at 2:00 PM.
NotesMandell Thomas returned to action after missing five games with an injury. He played eight minutes but did not attempt a shot.
Sengfelder netted double figures in his fourth straight game and the fifth time in his last six games. He is averaging 12.5 ppg and 7.0 rpg over the past six games.
Rhoomes' eleven rebounds brings his career total to 867, seventh all-time at Fordham.
Rhoomes did not score in double figures for just the third time this season.
Pekarek blocked a season-high three shots (previous high was two vs. George Mason) and tied his season-high with eight rebounds.
Pekarek is averaging 10.2 ppg as a starter (six games).
The last time the Rams swept a season series from two Atlantic 10 opponents was 2007 when Fordham beat Duquesne and St. Bonaventure twice.
The Rams picked up their second road win of the year for the first time since 2008.
The 22 first-half points for Fordham were the second fewest in an Atlantic 10 game this year (Fordham was limited to 19 first half points at VCU).
The Rams won for the first time in five games this year when scoring fewer than 60 points and the third time in 14 games when trailing at the half.
The game was Fordham's first this year decided by three points or less.
