Pittsburgh, Pa. – The North Park section of Pittsburgh is home to Gravity Hill, where cars appear to roll uphill. The basketball court at Duquesne's A.J. seemed to do the same to the Fordham men's basketball team tonight as a late rebound rolled away from the Rams to the Dukes and that proved to be an important play as Fordham fell to Duquesne, 66-61, in an Atlantic 10 contest on Wednesday night.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 9-6 overall, 0-2 in the Atlantic 10, while Duquesne improves to 10-5 overall, 1-1 in the conference.
Freshman guard
Jalen Cobb led the Rams with 16 points while
Antwon Portley (14), senior forward
David Pekarek (12), and freshman guard
Nick Honor (11) also finished in double figures for Fordham.
The Rams trailed by three, 62-59 with 18 seconds left when a missed Duquesne shot rolled along the baseline and to the Dukes' Eric Williams, Jr., who was fouled. He hit both free throws to give the home squad a 64-59 lead.
A Cobb jumper with eight seconds left pulled Fordham within three, but that was as close as they would get.
Takeaways
•
David Pekarek recorded his first double-double of the year, second of his career, with 12 points and ten rebounds.
•
Jalen Cobb missed a double-double by one rebound with the nine boards being a season-high.
•
Nick Honor has scored in double figures in 14 of his 15 games this year.
•
Antwon Portley has scored in double figures in six of his last seven games.
• The Rams were outscored 16-2 from the charity stripe and didn't make their first free throw until the 10:20 mark of the second half.
• Fordham held Duquesne to shooting just 28.6 percent (6-21) from behind the arc.
• Junior forward
Jesse Bunting, who missed the VCU game with an injured thumb, returned to action.
• It was announced before the game that Fordham freshman guard
Chris Austin will undergo surgery on his left thumb and will be out the rest of the season.
• The two teams will meet again on February 9 in the Rose Hill Gym.
By the Numbers
2 – Blocks by
Onyi Eyisi, bringing his season total to 20, a team-high.
4 – Three-pointers made by
David Pekarek, tying his career-high.
10 – Rebounds by
David Pekarek, tying his career-high.
11 – Three-pointers made by Fordham, who entered the game averaging 9.0 made threes/game, second best in the Atlantic 10.
15 – Offensive rebounds for the Rams, a season-high, which turned into 17 Fordham points.
16 – Points for
Jalen Cobb, a team-high and two shy of his season-high.
What's Next?
• The Rams will stay on the road, traveling to Rochester, N.Y., to take on the St. Bonaventure University Bonnies in an Atlantic 10 contest on Saturday, January 12, in the Blue Cross Arena at 4:30 p.m.
• It will be the 41st meeting between Fordham and St. Bonaventure on the hardwood.
• The Bonnies lead the all-time series, which started in the 1955-56 season, 25-15 (two St. Bonaventure wins in 2002-03 were later forfeited for use of an ineligible player).
