Men's Basketball Falls in Overtime at Atlantic 10 Championship

Pittsburgh, Pa. – The final game of the year proved to be a microcosm of the roller coaster season for the Fordham University men's basketball team. The Rams overcame an early deficit to take a late lead only to see George Mason tie the game at the buzzer and then outscore the Rams in overtime as Fordham fell, 82-71, in overtime, in the second round of the 2017 Atlantic 10 Championship at the PPG Paints Arena.
 
With the loss, the Rams close out the season with a 13-19 record while George Mason improves to 20-12 and advances to face second-seeded VCU in the quarterfinals on Friday.
 
Graduate student guard Javontae Hawkins, who was still nursing a sprained ankle that caused him to miss the regular season finale last Saturday, did everything he could to prolong his collegiate career, scoring 23 points to lead the Rams, while sophomore guard Joseph Chartouny added 19 points and four assists.
 
The Fordham defense did its job for most of the game, holding the Patriots to shooting 37.3 percent (19-51) in regulation, including 21.4 percent from behind the arc (3-14). George Mason had just one made three pointer over the first 39:24 of regulation but the Patriots hit two three-pointer over the final 36 seconds that helped force overtime.
 
While the Rams limited George Mason's shooting from the field, Fordham couldn't control the Patriots at the charity stripe as the Rams were outscored 27-12 from the line in the game and, more importantly, Fordham missed three free throws in the final 46 seconds .
 
Fordham also was outrebounded 52-22 on the night and outscored 16-4 in second chance points.
 
The Rams, who trailed by ten four minutes into the game, took their biggest lead of the night, 60-53, on a Christian Sengfelder layup off a Chartouny feed with 2:47 remaining in regulation and led again by seven, 62-55, on an Antwoine Anderson lay in at the 1:01 mark.
 
After a Marquis Moore miss, Anderson stole the ball from Moore and was fouled but he failed to connect on the front end of a one-and-one with 46 seconds left.
 
The Patriots worked the ball to Moore who hit a three-pointer ten seconds later to make it a four-point game, 62-58. Hawkins was fouled on the inbound pass and converted both free throws to give the Rams a 64-58 lead with 31 seconds on the clock.
 
Eight seconds later, Otis Livingston II hit his first three of the game to pull the Patriots within three, 64-61, and Anderson was fouled on Fordham's ensuing possession. But Anderson missed the front end of a one-and-one with 21 ticks left and a Moore layup six seconds later made it a one-point game, 64-63.
 
Sengfelder was fouled with 13 seconds remaining and made one of two free throws to give Fordham a 65-63 lead. Moore was then fouled driving to the hoop with seven seconds remaining but missed both of his free throws, his only two misses in ten free throw attempts on the night, but the Patriots were able to corral the rebound before Fordham knocked it out of bounds with 3.5 seconds left.
 
George Mason inbounded the ball to Livingston who drove the lane before dishing off to Jalen Jenkins who was able to lay the ball in at the buzzer to force overtime.
 
The Patriots scored the first five points of the overtime period and nine of the first eleven to take a 76-67 lead with 2:17 left.
 
Sengfelder added 13 points and six rebounds for the Rams while Anderson finished with nine points and two steals and Cavit Havsa added seven and recorded four steals.
 
Notes
It was Fordham's third overtime game of the year (the Rams were 2-1 in overtime games this season)
 
It was the third meeting between George Mason and Fordham at the Atlantic 10 Championship (the Rams now lead the all-time series at the A-10 Championships, 2-1)
 
Fordham won the first six meetings with the Patriots but George Mason has now taken the past two.
 
The Rams entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 in steals (9.9/game) and recorded seven in the game tonight
 
Fordham connected on nine three-pointers to bring its season total to a school-record 264 (former mark with 243 set last year) 
 
The Rams recorded seven steals to bring its season total to 315, second most in a single season for Fordham (school record is 350 by the 1981-1982 team) 
 
Fordham entered the game second in the NCAA in turnovers forced (17.61/game) and forced George Mason to commit 15 tonight
 
Sengfelder's 13 points brings his career total to 1,059, 31st on the Fordham career scoring list
 
Sengfelder hit one three-pointer to bring his career total to 160, ninth all-time at Fordham
 
Chartouny finished the season with a school record 94 steals (former record was 78), the eighth best single season total in Atlantic 10 history
 
Hawkins' 23 points brings his collegiate total to 1,169 (224 at South Florida, 511 at Eastern Kentucky and 434 at Fordham)
 
Hawkins recorded his team-high 24th double digit scoring game of the year and his fourth 20-point game (he played in 30 games)
 
Hawkins' 23 points is the fourth most by a Fordham player in an Atlantic 10 Championship game