Men's Basketball Falls to Davidson

Bronx, N.Y. – Three-point shots were being drained today in the Rose Hill Gym like The Dude drained White Russians in The Big Lebowski. Unfortunately, it was Davidson College who hit more of the long distance shots as Fordham fell to the Wildcats, 75-45, in an Atlantic 10 contest.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 6-11 overall, 1-4 in the Atlantic 10, while Davidson, winners of four straight, improves to 9-7 overall, 4-1 in the conference.
 
Senior guard Perris Hicks matched his season-high with 15 points for Fordham, shooting five-of-ten from behind the arc, while junior guard Joseph Chartouny added eight points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Rams and junior forward Prokop Slanina finished with eight points and four boards.
 
Davidson, who connected on 15 of its 26 three-point shots, jumped out to an 8-0 lead 4:17 into the game before a Chartouny three got the Rams on the board two minutes later.
 
An Ivan Raut dunk, off a feed from Cavit Havsa, made it a 20-12 game with 8:26 left in the half but the Wildcats were able to build a 16-point lead later in the half, 34-18, before the Rams trimmed the deficit to eleven at the break, 37-26.
 
Davison opened the second half with a 10-1 spurt to increase its lead to 20, 47-27, three minutes into the period. A Hicks trifecta and Raut jumper cut the advantage to 15, 47-32, with 16 minutes remaining but that was as close as the Rams would get.
 
Takeaways
Senior guard Will Tavares returned to action after missing the St. Bonaventure game due to injury. He scored six points and added four assists in 35 minutes.
 
Davidson entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 in fewest turnovers per game (9.3) and committed just five today against a Fordham defense which entered the game leading the conference in turnovers forced (16.3/game).
 
The starting lineup of Tavares-Chartouny-Hicks-Slanina- Pekárek was the sixth different combination for the Rams this year.
 
The game was the first of the season that freshman Ivan Raut did not start.
 
Neither team scored a point off the fast break.
 
The Wildcats now lead the all-time series, 4-2 (the two teams will meet again later this year on February 21 at Davidson).
 
Julianne Moore, who starred as Maude Lebowski in The Big Lebowski, was in attendance. Her son, Cal Freundlich, is a member of the Davidson squad.
 
By the Numbers
3 – Steals by Fordham, a season-low for the Rams who entered the game averaging 10.7 steals/game, fourth best in the NCAA.
 
15 – Three-pointers by Davidson, a season-high for a Fordham opponent this year.
 
15 – Points by Perris Hicks, his second straight 15-point game, tying his career-high set earlier this year against Manhattan.
 
212 – Career steals for Joseph Chartouny, who had three today, good for fifth on the school's career steals list.
 
375 – Career assists for Joseph Chartouny, who had four today, moving him ahead of Dave Maxwell (1979-1983) and into seventh place on the Fordham career list.
 
What's Next?
The Rams travel to Philadelphia to face the La Salle University Explorers in an Atlantic 10 contest in the Tom Gola Arena on Wednesday, January 17, at 7:00 p.m.
 
The Explorers lead the all-time series, 36-17, and have taken the past two matchups.
 
La Salle won both of last year's meetings, a 67-52 win in the Rose Hill Gym on February 8 and a 66-54 win in Philadelphia on March 4.