Bronx, N.Y. – What a difference eleven years make. In the first meeting between the men's basketball squad from NJIT and Fordham, the Rams dominated, wining 88-44, in 2007. Tonight was a different story as the Rams offense was stifled by the Highlanders, being held to a season-low 50 points in a 53-50 loss to NJIT in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 7-3 on the season while NJIT improves to 10-2.
Freshman guard
Nick Honor led the Rams with 13 points and he added three assists while junior guard
Antwon Portley finished with 12 points and three assists.
The Fordham offense went cold over the final 5:55, scoring just two points, that coming on an
Antwon Portley jumper with eleven seconds remaining. Despite that, the Rams had a chance to send the game to overtime. After the Highlanders hit a one of two free throws with nine seconds on the clock, Fordham got the ball to Honor who got off a three that bounced out as the buzzer sounded.
Takeaways
•
Nick Honor has scored double figures in each of the first ten games this year.
• The Highlanders held a nine-point lead, 42-33, with 13:00 left but that was quickly erased by an 11-1 Fordham run that gave the Rams a 44-43 lead on a Portley three-pointer 4:21 later.
• The Rams are now 2-1 on Tuesday nights this year, dropping their past two Tuesday night contests.
• Fordham was outscored 18-1 from the charity stripe.
By the Numbers
5 – Blocked shots by Fordham, led by two each from
Jesse Bunting and
Onyi Eyisi.
8 - Rebounds by
Jesse Bunting, a team-high.
14 – Lead changes in the game.
21 – Second half points by the Rams, a season-low (previous low was 27 vs. Youngstown State).
53 – Points scored by NJIT, a season-low (previous low was 63 vs. Brown).
What's Next?
• The Rams will host the Howard University Bison in the Rose Hill Gym on Sunday, December 16, at 2:00 p.m.
• It will be the third meeting between Fordham and Howard on the hardwood.
• The Rams took the first two meetings, 79-60, on November 30, 2008 and 74-69, on December 28, 2014, with both games being played in the Rose Hill Gym.
• The Rams are 8-3 all-time against teams currently in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).
