Men's Basketball Upended at Houston Baptist
Ty Perry leads Rams with 22 points
Houston, Texas – There was a large Fordham alumni turnout at one of the smallest NCAA Division I gyms in the country tonight and they were witness to an exciting game that came down to the last shot. Unfortunately for the Rams that shot by freshman
Nick Honor came up short as Fordham fell to Houston Baptist, 75-73, in the Sharp Gym.
With the loss, the Rams even their record at 1-1 on the season while Houston Baptist also evens its record at 1-1.
The Rams fell despite a team-high 22 points from freshman guard
Ty Perry, who hit six three-pointers, and 14 points from Honor.
Fordham closed out the first half with a 9-4 spurt to take a 41-36 at the break and a Perry three a minute into the second gave the Rams their largest lead of the night, 44-36.
But the Huskies used a 17-3 run over the next 5:35 to take a 53-47 lead and would eventually get the advantage to as many as eleven, 61-50, with 11:06 left.
Fordham scored the next 12 points to take a 62-61 lead on a Perry jumper at the 5:58 mark but Houston Baptist retook the lead 20 second later and would build it to four, 71-67, with 29 seconds remaining.
A Perry trifecta with 20 seconds left made it a one-point game, 71-70, but the Huskies hit all four of their free throws over the final nine seconds.
Takeaways
• After connecting on a school-record 16 three-pointers in the season-opener, the Rams hit 14 tonight, shooting 48.3 percent (14-29) from behind the arc.
• Among the Fordham fans were two former Fordham men's basketball players, Darryl Brown (1972-1975) and Scott Harmatuk (1996-2000).
• Other former Rams in attendance were former football Rams John Skelton, Stephen Skelton, Gerard Rizzo, Frank Rizzo, TJ Jordan, John Hohlt, Ryan Bradley and Andrew Tyshovnytsky.
• It was the first meeting between the two teams and Fordham is now 0-2 against teams currently in the Southland Conference.
•The Rams are now 0-6 all-time in the Lone Star state.
• The Sharp Gym is the fourth smallest Division I gym in the country with a capacity of 1,000 (the top three are USC-Upstate's G. B. Hodge Center (878), Charleston Southern's Fieldhouse (881), and Seattle University's Redhawk Center (999)).
By the Numbers
3 – Charges drawn by senior
Jesse Bunting, who finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
6 – Blocked shots for the Rams tonight, led by two each from
Chuba Ohams and
Onyi Eyisi.
8 – Assists for
Antwon Portley, a game-high, who was playing in his home state.
11 – Lead changes in the game.
17 – Second chance points for the Rams, who had 12 offensive rebounds.
33 – Rebounds for the Rams, who outrebounded the Huskies, 33-31.
What's Next?
• The Rams return home to host the 2018 Johnny Bach Classic from Friday, November 16, through Sunday, November 18, as they welcome Columbia, FIU and Youngstown State
• Fordham opens the tournament by hosting FIU on Friday night at 6:00 p.m.
• It will be the sixth meeting between Fordham and FIU with the Panthers holding a 4-1 series edge.
