Men's Basketball Falls to La Salle, 73-71

Bronx, N.Y. – Most everyone has had the nightmare of falling into a hole and slowly trying to crawl out, getting close to the top to only slip back down again. The Fordham men's basketball team felt that way tonight as they fell behind early to La Salle and couldn't quite catch up, falling to the Explorers, 73-71, in an Atlantic 10 game in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 9-10 overall, 0-6 in the Atlantic 10, while La Salle improves to 4-14 overall, 2-4 in the conference.
 
Junior guard Antwon Portley led all scorers in the game for Fordham, netting 22 points and adding seven rebounds, while freshmen guards Nick Honor and Jalen Cobb each scored 15 points and Chuba Ohams added 13 for the Rams.
 
Fordham trailed the entire game but was able to make it a three-point game, 70-67, on an Honor trifecta with 1:11 remaining before La Salle answered with a three to bump its lead back to six, 73-67, 36 seconds later.
 
Honor missed a long-distance shot with 25 seconds left and the Rams were forced to foul the Explorers five times in order to get La Salle into shooting a one-and-one. With 18 ticks left, the Explorers missed the front end of a one-and-one and Portley grabbed the rebound but missed a three at the other end. Onyi Eyisi got the rebound and eventually Ohams hit a shot in the lane to pull the Rams within four, 73-69, at the five-second mark.
 
Another missed Explorer free throw a second later led to Portley attempting a three with 1.3 seconds on the clock where he was fouled. Portley hit the first two free throws but intentionally missed the third, which was rebounded by Eyisi whose jumper hit the rim and bounced away at the buzzer.
 
Takeaways
• Portley tied his season-high with the 22-point performance.
 
• Nick Honor has now scored in double figures in 17 of the 19 games this year.
 
• The games was the eighth Fordham this year decided by three points or less (the Rams are now 2-6 in such games).
 
• The starting lineup of Jalen Cobb-Nick Honor-Antwon Portley-Jesse Bunting-David Pekarek was the eight different starting lineup used this year by the Rams.
 
• The Rams entered the game leading the Atlantic 10, and ranking 43rd in the NCAA, in turnover margin at +3.2 and committed just eight miscues tonight to 15 for La Salle.
 
• The Rams entered the game third in the Atlantic 10 in three-pointer defense, holding opponents to shooting .297 from behind the arc, but the Explorers shot a sizzling .538 (14-26) tonight.
 
By the Numbers
5 – Free throws made by La Salle, a season-low for a Fordham opponent.
 
7 – Game-high rebounds by Antwon Portley, tying his season-high.
 
7 – Free throws made by Antwon Portley, a season-high.
 
11 – Offensive rebounds for Fordham.
 
14 – Three-pointers made by La Salle, a season-high for a Fordham opponent.
 
16 – Points scored by Fordham off La Salle turnovers.
 
39 – First half points by La Salle, the most for a Fordham opponent this year.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams host the University of Dayton Flyers in an Atlantic 10 game in the historic Rose Hill Gym on Saturday, January 26, at 2:00 p.m.
 
• The Flyers lead the all-time series, which started in 1952-53, 30-5, and have won the past 14 match-ups.
 
• Dayton took last year's meeting, 80-70, on February 17 in the UD Arena as Trey Landers netted a game-high 26 points and Jalen Crutcher added 19 for the Flyers.