Men's Basketball Knocks Off Davidson, 60-54

Davidson, N.C. – Fordham University head coach Jeff Neubauer knew that to have a chance to win tonight at Davidson, the Rams would have to give a tremendous defensive effort. But even Neubauer would be hard pressed to expect the kind of defensive prowess exhibited by the Rams tonight when they held the Wildcats to shooting under 30 percent as Fordham defeated Davidson, 60-54, in an Atlantic 10 game in Belk Arena.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 7-10 overall, 1-3 in the Atlantic 10, and break a three-game losing streak, while Davidson falls to 8-7 overall, 1-3 in the conference.
 
The Fordham defense limited Davidson to shooting just 28.9 percent (13-45) from the field, including a smothering 19.0 percent (4-21) in the first half. The Rams held the home squad without a field goal made over the first 8:27 of the game and limited the Wildcats to season lows for points and field goals made.
 
The Ram defense limited Davidson's Peyton Aldridge and Jack Gibbs, who each entered the game averaging more than 20 points per game, to 18 and eleven, respectively, as the duo combined to shoot just 25.0 percent (7-28) from the field, 3-for-15 from behind the arc. Gibbs and Aldridge entered the game ranked second and third, respectively, in scoring in the Atlantic 10.
 

Offensively, Fordham was led by graduate student Javontae Hawkins, who led four Rams in double figures with 17 points, to go with nine rebounds, while sophomore guard Joseph Chartouny did a little bit of everything, scoring eleven points, grabbing nine boards, dishing out four assists and recording five steals. Redshirt junior guard Antwoine Anderson (15) and sophomore forward Prokop Slanina (10) also scored in double figures for Fordham with Anderson shooting 3-for-5 from long distance and Slanina pulling down eight rebounds.
 
The undermanned Rams, who played just seven players due to injuries/illness, battled back multiple times in the contest, the biggest from a five-point deficit in the second half as the Wildcats held a 52-47 lead with 4:38 left after a pair of Will Magarity free throws.
 
Chartouny made it a two-point game with a three-pointer 17 seconds later and the Rams capitalized on a Davidson turnover when Anderson fed Slanina under the basket for a layup as Fordham knotted the game at 52 with 3:41 on the clock.
 
After a Davidson missed was rebounded by Anderson, Hawkins got the ball down low but his shot was rejected by Magarity. However, the rebound came out to Chartouny who pumped faked his defender and then calmly sank a three to give the Rams a 55-52 lead with 2:51 remaining.
 
A pair of Aldridge charity shots made it a one-point game, 55-54, twenty seconds later and both teams went cold offensively with Aldridge missing a three with just over a minute left that would have given the Wildcats the lead.
 
Chartouny rebounded the Aldridge miss and the Rams worked the clock with an Anderson jumper beating the shot clock with 36 seconds left to put Fordham up three, 57-54.
 
A potential game-tying Gibbs three missed with 12 seconds remaining with Slanina grabbing the rebound and getting fouled. He hit one of his two free throws to make it a two possession game before another Davidson three fell short and Slanina pulled down another rebound and was fouled. This time he hit both free throws with under five seconds left to account for the 60-54 final.
 
The Rams opened the game with an 11-0 run over the first 5:19 before Davidson got on the board with an Aldridge free throw. Fordham led for most of the first half and took a 28-25 lead into the break.
 
Fordham returns to action on Saturday, January 14, as they travel to Rochester, N.Y., to face the St. Bonaventure University Bonnies in an Atlantic 10 game in the Blue Cross Arena at 4:30 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on the NBC Sports Network.
 
Notes
Fordham has won two straight over Davidson with the all-time series now tied at 2-2.
 
The game was a Homecoming for Fordham assistant coach Ali Ton, who played at Davidson from 1995-99.
 
The previous season-low shooting percentage for a Fordham opponent this year was 33.3 percent (Harvard) while the previous season-low for field goals made by a Fordham opponent this year was 14 (Saint Peter's).
 
Fordham is now 7-2 this year when leading at half.
 
The Rams won despite shooting a season-low 43.8 percent (7-16) from the charity stripe.
 
Fordham won for the first time in six games decided by ten or fewer points this season.
 
The game was just the fourth home loss over the past 42 home contests for the Wildcats.
 
The game featured players from nine different countries:  Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Nigeria, Serbia, Sweden and Turkey.
 
Gibbs (21.8 ppg) and Aldridge (21.0) entered the game as the fourth highest scoring duo in the country.
 
Antwoine Anderson made as many first half field goals as the entire Davidson team (four).
 
The Rams were the only A-10 road team to win tonight (out of five conference games on the night).
 
Slanina tied his season-high in scoring (originally set against Duquesne) and set a season-high for rebounding (previous high was seven at Richmond).
 
Hawkins tied his season-high in rebounding (originally set at Harvard).
 
Chartouny tied his season-high for rebounds (originally set against Manhattan and tied against Duquesne).
 
Anderson tied his career-high with the three made three-pointers (set vs. NYIT earlier this year).