Men's Basketball Knocked Off by Tulane in Jamaica

Men's Basketball Falls to Tulane in Jamaica
 
Will Tavares leads Rams with 19 points
 
Montego Bay, Jamaica – Though he hails from Providence, R.I., Fordham senior guard Will Tavares seems right at home in Jamaica as he scored a career-high 19 points tonight, after netting 18 points on Friday, but the rest of the Rams didn't feel as at home on the tropical island as the Rams fell to Tulane University, 63-55, in the 2017 Jamaica Classic at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 1-3 on the season while Tulane remains unbeaten at 4-0.
 
The Fordham defense brought it's "A" game tonight, forcing Tulane to commit 22 turnovers and recording a season-high 15 steals while holding the Green Wave to 27 points under their season average.
 
But it was a different story on the offensive end for the Rams, who shot 38.6 percent (22-57) from the field, including 25.8 percent (8-31) from behind the arc.
 
Fordham took a two-point into the break, 29-27, as the Ram defense limited Tulane to shooting just 33.3 percent (9-27) over the first 20 minutes.
 
But the Green Wave opened the second half with the hot-shooting hand, outscoring the Rams 15-4 over the first 8:45 to take a 42-33 lead, and built the lead to as many as eleven, 50-39, with 3:26 remaining.
 
The Rams attempted a comeback, scoring five straight points on a pair of Tavares free throws and a Perris Hicks three with 2:58 left, to trim the Tulane lead to six, 50-44.
 
Fordham got the Tulane lead down to six twice more over the final two minutes, the last time at 61-55 following an Ivan Raut three-pointer with 16 seconds left but that was as close as the Rams would get.
 
Takeaways
 
Perris Hicks also scored in double figures for the Rams with a career-high eleven points while shooting 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from behind the arc.
 
Tulane was averaging 90.3 points per game entering the contest and were shooting 54.3 percent from the field (the Green Wave shot 45.2 percent tonight).
 
The Rams entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 in three-point field goal percentage defense (.242) while ranking second in both defensive scoring average (63.3 points/game) and field goal percentage (.396).
 
Will Tavares averaged 18.5 ppg in his two contests in Jamaica this weekend, shooting 44.1 percent (15-34) from the field and he also averaged 5.5 rpg.
 
The Rams were outscored at the free throw stripe, 19-3, in the game.
 
Tulane has taken both meetings between the two schools, winning the first matchup, 80-69, in 1999 in the New Orleans Arena in the first basketball game in the new venue.
 
 
By the Numbers
 
0 – Second chance points scored by the Rams, who were limited to three offensive rebounds.
 
1 – Fouls called on Tulane in the first half (the Green Wave were only whistled for nine total fouls in the game).
 
3 – Steals recorded by Prokop Slanina, a career-high (previous high was two which he did four times).
 
4 –Steals for Perris Hicks, a career-high.
 
19 – Points scored by Will Tavares, a career-high (previous career-best was the 18 he scored on Friday night vs. Florida State).
 
19 – Points off turnovers for the Rams in the game (Tulane had just seven).
 
164 – Career steals for Joseph Chartouny, who had one tonight, good for ninth on the Fordham career list.
 
What's Next?
 
The Rams will return to the friendly confines of the historic Rose Hill Gym on Sunday, November 26, to host the Manhattan College Jaspers in the Annual Battle of the Bronx at 2:00 p.m.
 
The game will be the 110th meeting between the two schools on the hardwood.
 
Manhattan leads the all-time series, 57-52.