Kingston, R.I. - In 1636 Roger Williams came to what is now as Rhode Island seeking religious freedom. In 2019 the Fordham men's basketball team ventured north to the smallest state in the union seeking its second Atlantic 10 road win of the season. Both undertakings proved successful as freshman guard
Nick Honor hit a corner three with 48 seconds left in overtime to lift Fordham to a 66-63 Atlantic 10 win over Rhode Island in the Ryan Center.
With the win, Fordham improves to 11-14 overall, 2-10 in the Atlantic 10, while Rhode Island falls to 12-12 overall, 5-7 in the conference.
Honor and junior forward
Chuba Ohams each finished with 19 points for Fordham, a career-high for Ohams who added nine rebounds, while Honor dished out five assists. Junior forward
Jesse Bunting also netted double figures for Fordham, finishing with 12 points to go with nine rebounds.
The score was knotted at 60 when Honor received a pass from
Antwon Portley on the left side and got off a three-pointer that was nothing but net to give Fordham a 66-63 lead.
Rhode Island had a chance to tie the game as the home Rams grabbed three offensive rebounds in the final 33 seconds but the fourth shot, a three-point attempt, was rebounded by
Ivan Raut as time expired.
Takeaways
•
Nick Honor has scored in double figures in 23 of the 25 games this year.
• Fordham has won each of the past two games that
Chuba Ohams scored in double figures.
•
Chuba Ohams is averaging 10.1 ppg and 7.1 rpg over the last seven games while
Jesse Bunting is averaging 9.8 ppg and 6.0 rpg over the past five while shooting .618 (21-34) from the field.
•
Chuba Ohams and
Jesse Bunting both fouled out in the overtime period.
• The game was almost decided in regulation as
Jalen Cobb stole the ball from Rhode Island's Fatts Russell in the waning seconds but the ball was knocked away from Cobb as he was going in for a layup with 0.3 seconds left.
• Fordham won despite being outscored 26-10 from the free throw line.
• Fordham is now 7-6 this year when leading at the half.
• Fordham entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 in turnover margin (+3.5) and forced 16 Rhode Island turnovers while committing 13 of its own.
• Fordham entered the game third in the A-10 in three-point shooting (.344) and three-pointers made/game (9.1) and shot .348 (8-21) from long distance.
• Rhode Island entered the game second in the Atlantic in in offensive rebounding (12.0/game) and grabbed 17 in the contest but only converted them to nine second chance points to ten for Fordham.
• The visiting team has won the past three meetings between the two teams.
• The Fordham mangers picked up their second win of the season with a victory over the URI managers on Friday night.
• Former Ram Luke Devine was in attendance.
• The Fordham coaching staff took part in the national Autism Speaks Coaches Powering Forward campaign today, wearing a blue puzzle piece on their jacket lapels, to help increase understanding and acceptance of people with autism.
By the Numbers
.083 – Three-point shooting percentage for Rhode Island (1-12), a season-low for a Fordham opponent.
1 – Three-pointers made by Rhode Island, a season-low for a Fordham opponent.
3 – Blocks by
Jesse Bunting, tying his career-high.
6 – Largest lead in the game (by Fordham, 45-39, with 12:18 left in the second half).
14 – Offensive rebounds for Fordham, one shy of a season-high.
15 – Blocked shots for Rhode Island, a season-high for a Fordham opponent.
17 – Offensive rebounds by Rhode Island, tying a season-high for a Fordham opponent (vs. Rutgers) but Fordham won both games.
19 - Career-high point total for
Chuba Ohams (previous high was 13 which he accomplished twice this year).
1,528 – All-time wins for the Fordham men's basketball program.
What's Next?
• The Rams return to action by traveling to Richmond, Va., to face the University of Richmond Spiders in the Robins Center on Wednesday, February 20, at 7:00 p.m.
• It will be the 28th meeting between Fordham and Richmond on the hardwood.
• Richmond leads the all-time series, which started in the 1984-85 season, 19-8.
• The Rams won last year's meeting, 69-65, in overtime in the Rose Hill Gym on January 3 behind 26 points and 12 rebounds from
Joseph Chartouny and 12 points from
Ivan Raut.
