Men's Basketball Wins Second Buzzer-Beater of the Year

Video

Philadelphia, Pa – It's obvious that Fordham's Antwoine Anderson's initials are AA. But no one would be surprised if you found a giant S on his chest as the redshirt junior guard played Superman again tonight, hitting his second buzzer-beater of the year, and third of his career, burying a three-pointer at the second overtime horn to lead Fordham to an 86-83 Atlantic 10 win over Saint Joseph's in the Hagan Arena.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 10-13 overall, 4-6 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Joseph's falls to 10-12 overall, 3-7 in the conference.
 
The last time the Rams won at Saint Joseph's, George H.W. Bush was in his first term as president, Fordham was in the Patriot League and no current Ram player was born. The last Fordham win at Saint Joseph's came on December 3, 1990 when the Rams upended the Hawks in another nail-biter, 74-73, on a Sanford Jenkins jumper with seven seconds left. Since then, Fordham and Saint Joseph's have squared off 18 times on Hawk Hill with the home team winning all 18 games.
 

Anderson's game-winning three, hit in front of his grandparents who were in the stands, boosted his team-high total to 20, and he also had six assist and three rebounds while sophomore forward Prokop Slanina added a season-high 15 points and five rebounds. It was Anderson's second buzzer-beater this year as he also won the VCU game with a jumper at the overtime buzzer and he provided the game-winner last year against Rhode Island with three seconds remaining.
 
Also netting double figures for Fordham were sophomore guard Joseph Chartouny, who finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals, junior forward Christian Sengfelder, who had 12 points and seven boards, and junior guard Will Tavares, who chipped in with ten points.
 
To make the win even more dramatic, Fordham played the entire second overtime without Slanina, Chartouny and graduate student guard Javontae Hawkins, the team's leading scorer, who all fouled out in the first overtime.
 
The Hawks led by four, 81-77, with 1:35 left in the second overtime but Cavit Havsa fed Jesse Bunting under the basket for a lay in with 1:15 on the clock to make it a two-point game.
 
Thirty one seconds later Bunting rebounded a Saint Joseph's miss and was fouled. He sank both free throws to tie the game at 81.
 
On the Hawks' ensuing possession, Anderson swiped the ball away from Chris Clover and took it in for a layup with 13 seconds remaining to give the Rams an 83-81 lead. But Bunting fouled Saint Joseph's Lamar Kimble with just under six seconds on the clock and Kimble sank both charity shots to retie the game.
 
Following the free throws, Anderson took the inbound pass and raced down the left side, pulling up in the middle of the court, about three feet behind the arc, getting off a shot that was nothing but net as the buzzer sounded.
 
The game looked to be over in regulation as Saint Joseph's held a 15-point lead, 52-37, with nine minutes remaining and had an eleven-point lead, 61-50, with 3:44 left. But a Sengfelder lay in with 3:22 remaining ignited a 12-0 Fordham spurt as the Rams went up one, 62-61, on a Sengfelder three with 19 seconds on the clock.
 
Kimble answered with a three-pointer for the Hawks with seven seconds left and the Rams called a time out with five seconds remaining. Chartouny took the inbounds pass at half court and drove to the left, curling in for a layup with one second remaining to force the first extra session.
 
Fordham led for most of the first overtime but Kimble forced the second extra session with a pair of free throws with five seconds left.
 
The Rams return to action on Wednesday, February 8, as they host the La Salle University Explorers for an Atlantic 10 game in the historic Rose Hill Gym at 7:00 p.m.
 
Notes
The game was played on Jesuit Basketball Spotlight Weekend as men's and women's basketball teams from 13 Jesuit colleges and universities played against each other in ten games across the country.
 
The contest was Fordham's second overtime contest of the year (the Rams have won both) and the first double overtime game since a win over St. Bonaventure on January 21, 2006.
 
This is the second straight year that Fordham has won two overtime games (the Rams took two of the three overtime contests last year).
 
The win was Fordham's third Atlantic 10 road victory this year, matching last year's total (the most road A-10 wins for the Rams is five by the 2006-2007 squad).
 
The Rams outscored the Hawks, 34-14, on points in the paint and 23-14 on points off turnovers.
 
Fordham pulled down a season-high 40 rebounds in the game (previous high was 39 at Davidson).
 
Chartouny's three steals brings his season total to 76, two shy of Jason Harris' 1999-2000 school record of 78.
 
Sengfelder hit two three-pointers in the game to bring his career total to 144, the tenth best total in school history.
 
Slanina's previous season-high was 13 against UMass on January 21.
 
Sengfelder played 49 of the 50 minutes while Anderson clocked in at 47 minutes.
 
Tavares grabbed a season-high five rebounds (previous high was four).