Men’s Basketball Falls to Dayton

Bronx, N.Y. – Dayton entered today's game at Fordham ranked fifth in the NCAA in team field goal percentage. That will not change as the Flyers shot 51.8 percent from the field, and Fordham went cold on offense, as Dayton defeated Fordham, 75-52, in an Atlantic 10 game in the Rose Hill Gym in a game presented by New York Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 9-11 overall, 0-7 in the Atlantic 10, while Dayton improves to 13-7 overall, 5-2 in the conference.
 
Junior guard Antwon Portley, junior forward Chuba Ohams, and freshman guard Nick Honor, who each finished with ten points, led the Rams. Ohams added a team-high eight rebounds and Honor added four assists.
 
Takeaways
• The game was the annual Katie McBride Foundation recognition game. Katie McBride was the sister of former Fordham men's basketball manager Mike McBride, GABELLI '13, who died from Burkitt's Lymphoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer, in 2008.  Katie's Run, a project of the Katie McBride Foundation, honors the memory of Katie and the families of all childhood leukemia victims and other life-threatening diseases. The primary objective is to honor Katie while raising important funds and awareness of the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island and the family support services it provides.
 

• The McBride family was recognized during a timeout as were Fordham alumni who competed in the New York City Marathon to raise funds for the Katie McBride Foundation.
 
• Members of the NYPD Emerald Society Pipes and Drums Society band performed at halftime.
 
• Both coaching staffs wore sneakers as part of the national Coaches vs. Cancer promotion.
 
• Fordham players and staff also wore yellow shoelaces to raise awareness for pediatric cancer.
 
• The Rams donned throwback uniforms, complete with shorter than usual shorts.
 
• Fordham forced 12 Dayton turnovers and committed only eight, the 12th time this year that the Rams committed fewer turnovers than their opponent (Fordham entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 and ranking 33rd in the NCAA in turnover margin at +3.4).
 
• Honor has scored in double figures in 18 of the 20 games this year while Portley has 14 double-figure scoring games, including ten of the last 12.
 
• Ohams scored in double figures in his second straight game.
 
• Senior forward David Pekarek celebrated his birthday on Saturday.
 
• Prior to the game, Fordham hosted its annual NYAC Clinic in the Lombardi Center where over 40 youngsters ran through some basketball drills under the guidance of some of the Rams.
 
By the Numbers
8 – Rebounds by Chuba Ohams, who is averaging 6.8 rpg over the past four games.
 
20 - First half points by Fordham, a season-low
 
46 - Rebounds by Dayton, a season-high for a Fordham opponent.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams travel to the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., to face the George Washington University Colonials in an Atlantic 10 game in the Smith Center on Wednesday, January 30, at 7:00 p.m.
 
• The Colonials lead the all-time series, which started in the 1914-15 season, 27-6, and have taken the past eight matchups.
 
• The Colonials won both of last year's meetings, 72-56 in the Smith Center on February 28 as Yuta Watanabe scored a career-high 31 points, and 78-72, in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championship at the Capital One Center as Jair Bolden scored 22 points for the Colonials.