Washington, D.C. – As most high schoolers know from history class, George Washington was not successful in his first major battle in New York. The same isn't true of the George Washington University men's basketball team, who defeated Fordham University in New York in the first meeting of the two schools in 1914-1915. And the Colonials haven't slowed down much since then, defeating the Rams, 79-61, in an Atlantic 10 game in the Smith Center on Wednesday for their ninth straight win over Fordham.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 9-12 overall, 0-8 in the Atlantic 10, while George Washington improves to 7-14 overall, 3-5 in the conference.
Junior forward
Jesse Bunting led the Rams with a career-high 19 points, and he grabbed five rebounds, while freshman guard
Nick Honor added 15 points and junior guard
Antwon Portley finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
The Rams could not overcome a 16-0 George Washington run in the first half that turned a 25-20 Fordham lead into a 36-25 Colonial advantage with three minutes remaining in the half.
Takeaways
•
Nick Honor has scored in double figures in 19 of the 21 games this year for the Rams.
•
Jesse Bunting hit his second three-pointer of the year in the game and is a perfect 2-for-2 from behind the arc in 2018-2019.
•
Chuba Ohams, who had scored in double figures in the previous two games, made his third start of the year tonight but was held to just four points (though he did add nine rebounds).
• The Rams have never beaten George Washington in D.C. (15 games).
• The Colonials entered the game 13th in the Atlantic 10 in rebounding margin (-4.2) and the Rams outrebounded GW, 40-35, tonight.
• George Washington entered game 13th in offensive field goal percentage (.402) and 12th in three-point percentage (.301) in the conference but shot .484 (30-62) from the floor tonight and .350 (7-20 from behind the arc.
• The game featured two of the youngest NCAA Division I teams (Fordham has ten freshmen and sophomores in the roster, GW has seven).
• The Rams took a bus trip around Washington, D.C. during the day on Wednesday, seeing the White House, the Capital, and the Lincoln Memorial among other sites.
By the Numbers
8 – Assists for
Antwon Portley, tying his career-high set at Houston Baptist earlier this year.
9 – The game featured the ninth different starting lineup for the Rams who started Ohams, Cobb, Honor, Portley, and Bunting.
9 – Rebounds by
Antwon Portley, a career-high (previous high was eight against Rider when he was at Saint Peter's).
19 – Career-high points for
Jesse Bunting (previous high was 18 against FIU earlier this year).
30 – Points by George Washington's DJ Williams, a career-high, tying a season-high by a Fordham opponent.
32 – First half points by the Rams, the second most first half points in an A-10 game this year for Fordham.
What's Next?
• After a week off, the Rams return to action by traveling to Amherst, Mass., to face the University of Massachusetts Minutemen in an Atlantic 10 game in the Mullins Center on Wednesday, February 6, at 7:00 p.m.
• It will be the 46th meeting between Fordham and Massachusetts on the hardwood.
• The Minutemen lead the all-time series, which started in the 1967-68 season, 30-15.
• The Rams have taken the past four meetings, including an 82-69 win in the Rose Hill Gym last January behind 19 points and ten rebounds from
Prokop Slanina and 16 points from
Ivan Raut.
