Men's Basketball Falls at Richmond, 80-72

Box Score

Richmond, Va. – Richmond was the site of the world's first triple railroad crossing and the University of Richmond appeared to pay homage to the feat tonight, shooting 10-for-21 from long distance, as the Spiders held off a second half comeback attempt by Fordham, upending the Rams, 80-72, in an Atlantic 10 game in the Robins Center.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 6-9 overall, 0-2 in the Atlantic 10, while Richmond improves to 8-6 overall, 2-0 in the conference.
 
The Rams fell despite Christian Sengfelder's first double-double of the year as the junior forward scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds while sophomore guard Joseph Chartouny added 16 points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals for the Rams.
 
Unlike the last game, when Fordham was outrebounded by Duquesne, the Rams held a 32-25 rebounding edge in the game, with ten of the 32 Fordham rebounds coming on the offensive glass, five of those from Sengfelder. The Rams were able to convert the ten offensive rebounds into 13 points, outscoring the Spiders, 13-3, in second half points.
 
The Rams also shot 50 percent from the field in the game (28-56), led by Chartouny, who was 7-for-12, and Sengfelder, who was 8-for-14.
 
Fordham trailed by eight at the break, 42-34, and Richmond opened the second half with a 17-10 spurt to take a 15-point lead, the Spiders' largest of the night, 59-44, with 14:00 left.
 
Richmond led by 15 again 2:30 later, 63-48, when an 8-2 Fordham run got the Rams' deficit under ten, 65-56, following a Prokop Slanina layup at the 8:12 mark.
 
The Spiders were able to get their lead back to double digits, taking a 71-59 lead with 5:16 left but the Rams mounted a comeback attempt, using six straight points from Javontae Hawkins and an Antwoine Anderson layup, off a Chartouny steal, to make it a four-point game, 71-67, with 3:19 remaining.
 
But three of the next four Fordham offensive possessions ended in a turnover and Richmond took advantage of the miscues to get the lead back to as many as eleven, 80-69, before a Sengfelder three at the buzzer made it an eight-point decision.
 
Slanina added eight points and a season-high seven rebounds for Fordham while Will Tavares also netted eight points.
 
The Rams return to action on Saturday, January 7, as they host the defending Atlantic 10 champions, Saint Joseph's University, in the historic Rose Hill Gym at 3:00 p.m. in a game that will be televised on the NBC Sports Network.
 
Notes
Sengfelder's previous season-high in rebounding was seven, which he accomplished twice, the most recent versus FDU.
 
The 12 boards in a season-high for a Ram this year, surpassing Jesse Bunting who pulled down eleven versus FDU.
 
Sengfelder also matched his season-high with 23 points.
 
Chartouny, who entered the game leading the NCAA in steals, has 20 swipes in his past four games.
 
Chartouny hit first six shots of the game.
 
Slanina's previous season-high in rebounding was six, set at Manhattan.
 
The Rams held Richmond's T.J. Cline to nine points and five rebounds, well below his season averages of 18.6 ppg and 8.0 rpg.
 
Fordham outscored Richmond, 38-28, in the paint.
 
The game was a sort of Homecoming for Fordham head coach Jeff Neubauer, who served as an assistant at Richmond for five years.
 
The Rams have now dropped 13 straight to the Spiders, who lead the all-time series, 18-7.
 
The Robins Center court in named in honor of former Richmond head coach Dick Tarrant, a Fordham graduate.
 
Fordham sophomore guard Thomas Sanchez celebrated his birthday today.