Men’s Basketball Falls at A-10 Championship

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Brooklyn, N.Y. – It's often said that the third times the charm. But that wasn't the case on Thursday as the Fordham University men's basketball program couldn't overcome a slow start and fell to the University of Richmond for the third time this season, dropping a 70-55 decision in the second round of the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championships at the Barclays Center.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 17-13 while Richmond improves to 16-15.
 

The Rams fell despite another double-double from Ryan Rhoomes, who finished with 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. It was his third straight double-double, the seventh in the past eight games, and his 12th on the season. Joseph Chartouny, the 2016 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, lead all scorers in the game with 19 and he added five rebounds and four assists.
 
Trailing by 16 at the half, 38-22, Fordham came out strong to open the second half, using a 17-4 opening run to make it a three-point game, 42-39, on a Chartouny free throw five minutes into the period. Rhoomes led the Fordham run with eight points, including a pair of old fashioned three-point plays on put backs following an offensive rebound.
 
Four minutes later, a ShawnDre' Jones jumper bumped the Richmond lead to five, 46-41, but a Mandell Thomas jumper and Rhoomes layup over the next two minutes pulled the Rams within one, 46-45, with 8:42 on the clock.
 
The Spiders managed to get their lead back to six, 51-45, with five straight points but Antwoine Anderson brought the Rams' deficit back to three, 51-48, with a layup and free throw, with five minute remaining.
 
But the Fordham offense then went cold as Richmond closed out the game outscoring the Rams 19-7 for the 70-55 win.
 
Notes
The Rams had a four-game winning streak snapped
 
Fordham lost three times in a season to the same team for the first time since losing three times to La Salle in 1989
 
The Rams entered the game second in A-10 in steals/game (8.5) but only recorded six thefts
 
The halftime deficit (16) was Fordham's second largest this year and the Rams are now 4-12 when trailing at half
 
Senior Mandell Thomas netted seven points to bring his career total to 1,373, 14^th on the school's career scoring list
 
Senior Ryan Rhoomes pulled down 14 rebounds to bring his career total to 921, moving him into sixth place on the Fordham all-time rebounding list
 
The 14 rebounds for Rhoomes is the third most for a Ram in an A-10 Championship game
 
Rhoomes entered the game leading the A-10 and ranking seventh in the nation in field goal percentage (.649) and shot 8-for-12 in the game to bring his season percentage to .650 (182-280)
 
The .650 shooting percentage for Rhoomes is a Fordham single season record
 
Chartouny, who entered the game leading all NCAA Division I freshmen in assists/game, added to his Fordham single season assist record with the four helpers, bringing his season total to 152