Men’s Basketball Wins Fourth Straight

Photo Gallery
 
Bronx, N.Y. – On the day before Laetare Sunday, Fordham University senior Ryan Rhoomes and sophomore Antwoine Anderson gave the home fans plenty to rejoice about as Rhoomes notched his third straight double-double in his last regular season game in the Rose Hill Gym and Anderson hit the game-winner with three seconds remaining, leading Fordham to a 64-61 win over Rhode Island.
 

With the win, Fordham's fourth straight, the Rams close out the regular season 17-12 overall, 8-10 in the Atlantic 10, while Rhode Island finishes 17-13 overall, 9-9 in the conference. The 17 overall wins and eight conference wins are the most for the Rams since 2006-2007 while the four-game A-10 winning streak is also the longest since a five-game streak that season.
 
Rhoomes finished with a career-high 27 points and added eleven rebounds for his eleventh double-double of the year, his sixth in the past seven games. Joining him in double figures was freshman Joseph Chartouny, who just missed his own double-double with 13 points and nine assists.
 
Four McGlynn tied the game at 61 for Rhode Island with a three-pointer with 20 seconds left and Fordham inbounded the ball to Anderson who delivered the biggest basket for Fordham, driving the lane and getting off a spinning layup that went in as he was fouled with three seconds on the clock. Anderson buried his free throw to give Fordham a 64-61 lead and McGlynn's half-court attempt at the buzzer bounced off the rim as Fordham held on for the win.
 
Fordham trailed by 12 with 13:50 left, 45-33, following a Kuran Iverson three as Rhode Island opened the half with a 13-4 run. A Rhoomes layup at the 13:21 mark seemed to kick start the Fordham offense as the home squad went on a 16-2 run to take a 49-47 lead on a Rhoomes layup off an Anderson steal with 9:35 remaining.
 
An Iverson three-point play 20 seconds later and a Jared Terrell free throw at the 8:05 mark put Rhode Island up two, 51-49, but Fordham scored the next eight points, sandwiching a Rhoomes basket around three-pointers from Christian Sengfelder and Chartouny, to take a 57-51 lead with 6:30 left.
 
Rhode Island responded with seven straight of its own to take a 58-57 lead on an Iverson jumper with 3:21 left. But a pair of Rhoomes free throws 20 seconds later put Fordham back on top, 59-58, and Rhoomes nailed another pair of charity shots a little over a minute later to give Fordham a 61-58 lead before McGlynn tied it with his three.
 
The Rams open the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championship as the eight seed on Thursday afternoon, March 10, as the Rams take on the ninth-seeded University of Richmond Spiders in the Barclays Center at 12:00 PM.
 

 
Notes
The game was the polar opposite of last year's game between the two teams in the Rose Hill Gym, won by Rhode Island on a put back at the buzzer.
 
Rhoomes' eleven rebounds bring his career total to 907, good for seventh on the Fordham career rebounding list.
 
Rhoomes' previous career-high was 26 against St. John's earlier this year.
 
Mandell Thomas scored three points to bring his career total to 1,366, good for 14th on the school's career scoring list.
 
Chartouny's nine assists bring his career total to 148, adding to his school record for a freshman.
 
The Rams improved to 14-4 at home this year, the most wins in the Rose Hill Gym in school history.
 
Fordham won for the fourth time in 15 games when trailing at the half and the third time in ten games when being outrebounded.
 
Fordham committed a season-low six turnovers and were whistled for a season-low 13 fouls.
 
Fordham allowed Rhode Island only four offensive rebounds.
 
The game was Fordham's second sell out of the year (3,200).
 
The win snapped a Rhode Island four-game winning streak in the series.