Men’s Basketball Uses The Force to Defeat Davidson, 91-82

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Bronx, N.Y. – It was Star Wars day at the Rose Hill Gym and the Force was definitely with the Fordham University Rams as all five starters scored in double figures, led by Joseph Chartouny with a season-high 24, as Fordham defeated Davidson College, 91-82, in an Atlantic 10 contest.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 15-12 overall, 6-10 in the Atlantic 10, while Davidson falls to 17-10 overall, 9-7 in the conference. The win was also Fordham's 13th at home this year, setting a school mark for most home wins in a season, while the six conference are the most since the 2007-2008 season.
 

Chartouny added a season-best 13 assists, two shy of the school record, and seven rebounds while Ryan Rhoomes notched his ninth double-double of the year with 18 points and a game-high 12 rebounds to go with four blocks. The 13 assists bring Chartouny's season total to 132, a new school single season record for a freshman. Christian Sengfelder (17), Antwoine Anderson (11) and David Pekárek (10) also finished in double figures for Fordham.
 
The 91 points are the second most scored by the Rams this year and the most scored by Fordham in an Atlantic 10 game since 2010 when the Rams netted 100 at Duquesne.
 
The Rams scored by shooting at 51.7 percent clip (39-58), including 66.7 percent (16-24) in the second half while holding Davidson to shooting 43.3 percent (26-60).
 
The Rams led by one at the break, 35-34, but Davidson opened the second half with a 6-4 spurt to take a 40-39 lead 1:26 into the half. The Wildcats led by one again at the 17:51 mark, 42-41, when Fordham went on a 14-4 run to take a 55-46 lead on a Chartouny layup with 13:26 left. Chartouny scored seven points in the run.
 
Davidson answered with an 11-5 spurt to get the Fordham advantage down to three, 60-57, on a Peyton Aldridge three with 8:43 remaining but the Rams came back with a 14-2 run to take a their biggest lead of the day, 74-59, on a Pekárek three-pointer at the 4:57 mark. Pekárek had six in the Fordham run while Sengfelder added five.
 
The closest the Wildcats would get from that point would be seven, 89-82, on a Brian Sullivan three-pointer with nine seconds left.
 
The game was close over the first five minutes with Fordham holding a 10-9 lead when the Rams used an 11-2 spurt to take a ten-point lead, 21-11, on a Sengfelder jumper midway through the half. But the Fordham offense then went cold, going scoreless over the next six minutes, as Davidson took a 24-21 lead with 4:31 left in the half.
 
The Fordham offense righted itself and took a four-point lead, 35-31, on a rim-rattling Anderson dunk with 41 seconds left before Sullivan answered with a three for the Wildcats 13 seconds later to make it a 35-34 game at the half.
 
The Rams return to action on Wednesday, March 2, as they travel to Pittsburgh to face the Duquesne University Dukes in an Atlantic 10 game the A.J. Palumbo Center at 7:00 p.m.
 


Notes
Chartouny missed recording Fordham's first ever triple-double by three rebounds.
 
The school single-game record for assists is 15, set by Jerry Hobbie in 1984.
 
Jean Prioleau held the previous school record for assists by a freshman in a season with 130 in 1987-1988.
 
Chartouny's previous season-high was 21 against Maine.
 
Rhoomes' 12 rebounds bring his career total to 879, good for seventh on the Fordham career list.
 
Rhoomes' four blocks bring his career total to 139, good for fifth on the school's all-time list.
 
Rhoomes shot 8-for-11 in the game to bring his Atlantic 10-leading field goal percentage to 65.1 percent (157-241) which would be a school single-season record.
 
Rhoomes has 16 career double-doubles.
 
Mandell Thomas scored six points off the bench to bring his career total to 1,351, 14th on the Fordham al-time scoring list.
 
Thomas hit a pair of three-pointers to bring his career total to 156, moving him into a tie with Bryan Smith (2011-2015) for eighth on the Fordham career list.
 
Thomas also had two steals in the game to bring his career total to 196, good for fifth on the all-time list.
 
The Rams forced 14 Davidson turnovers and are now 11-4 on the year when committing fewer turnovers than their opponent.
 
The game was Fordham's first win over Davidson in three tries and the Wildcats first ever visit to the Rose Hill Gym.
 
The 56 second half points are the most for the Rams this year.
 
The 15 wins are the most for a Fordham team since the 2006-2007 squad won 18 times.