Men's Basketball Falls to VCU

Bronx, N.Y. – The two teams entered the game with similar non-conference records and nicknames. But the similarities ended there as VCU shot a sizzling 66.7 percent from the field as the visiting Rams knocked off Fordham, 76-51, in the Atlantic 10 opener for both teams in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 9-5 overall, 0-1 in the Atlantic 10, while VCU improves to 10-4 overall, 1-0 in the conference.
 
Freshman guard Jalen Cobb led Fordham with 14 points, shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc, while freshman forward Onyi Eyisi added nine points and junior guard Antwon Portley and freshman guard Nick Honor each finished with eight.
 
The game started slowly with neither team scoring until a VCU basket 2:24 into the game. That basket started a 17-5 run for the visitors over the next four minutes as VCU took a 12-point lead with 13:14 left in the first.
 
Fordham scored the next three points to make it a 17-8 game three minutes later but an 18-5 VCU run helped VCU build a commanding 22-point lead, 35-13, with three minutes left in the half.
 
Takeaways
• Junior forward Jesse Bunting missed the game due to an injury suffered in the LIU Brooklyn game last Sunday.
 
• Nick Honor failed to score in double figures for the first time this season.
 
• Junior Erten Gazi saw his first action of the season, scoring four points and adding two assists.
 
• Fordham shot a season-low 32.7 percent from the field (17-52).
 
• Fordham fell for the first time in five games this year when trailing at the half.
 
• VCU entered the game ranked seventh in the NCAA in defensive effective field goal percentage (.425) and ninth in in three-point field goal defense (.265).
 
• VCU now leads the all-time series, 9-1.
 
By the Numbers
4 – Freshman who started for Fordham (Chris Austin, Jalen Cobb, Onyi Eyisi, and Nick Honor).
 
9 – Points by Onyi Eyisi, one shy of his season-high, who shot 3-for-3 from the field.
 
11 – Fouls whistled on Fordham, a season-low.
 
13 – Offensive rebounds by Fordham, one shy of the Rams' season-high.
 
18 – Turnovers by Fordham, tying a season-high.
 
27 – Rebounds by Fordham, tying a season-low.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams will travel to Pittsburgh, Pa., to take on the Duquesne University Dukes in an Atlantic 10 contest on Wednesday, January 9, in the Palumbo Center at 8:00 p.m.
 
• It will be the 39th meeting between Fordham and Duquesne on the hardwood.
 
• The Dukes lead the all-time series, which started in the 1949-50 season, 22-16.
 
• The two school split a pair of games last year with Duquesne winning, 64-41, in the Rose Hill Gym on January 6 behind 21 points from Rene Castro-Kennedy, and the Rams taking an 80-57 decision in Pittsburgh on February 10 as Ivan Raut scored a career-high 25 points.
 
• Duquesne has taken the four of the past seven meetings and eight of the past 12.
 
• Fordham is 13-16 against Duquesne since joining the Atlantic 10.