Bronx, N.Y. – To say that the Fordham University men's basketball team faced some adversity this week would be like saying the Grand Canyon is just a hole in the ground. After learning that they would be without the services of junior Jess Bunting for the rest of the season, the Rams showed up for tonight's game with George Washington to discover that junior guard
Antwon Portley would be unavailable due to illness. Nevertheless, the young Rams, along with senior
Chris Downing who made his first start in his final Rose Hill Gym appearance, rose to the occasion, defeating the Colonials, 67-56, in an Atlantic 10 game on Wednesday night.
With the win, Fordham improves to 12-18 overall, 3-14 in the Atlantic 10, while George Washington falls to 8-22 overall, 4-13 in the conference.
Freshman
Jalen Cobb led the Rams with 15 points, one of five Rams to finish in double figures, while sophomore guard
Ivan Raut added 14 and freshman
Ty Perry 13 and seven rebounds. Junior
Chuba Ohams (eleven points, nine rebounds and four blocks) and freshman guard
Nick Honor (ten points and six assists) also netted double figures for Fordham.
Fordham used a strong first half to take a 43-28 lead at the break, shooting 46.7 percent from behind the arc in the half with Raut leading the way, scoring all of his 14 points over the first 20 minutes.
The second half didn't start as well for the Rams as George Washington opened the half with a 17-3 run to cut the Fordham lead to one, 46-45, with 12:20 left.
Fordham led by two, 53-51, with 6:28 remaining when the Rams' offense came back, scoring the next eleven points to take a 64-51 lead on a pair of
Onyi Eyisi free throws with 1:52 on the clock.
Takeaways
• The Rams wore "Play for Jesse" warmup shirts to support their teammate,
Jesse Bunting, who suffered a minor stroke on Monday and will miss the remainder of the season.
• George Washington also supported Bunting by wearing red shoelaces for the game.
• The starting lineup of Ohams-Cobb-Honor-Perry-Downing was the tenth different starting lineup for the Rams this year.
• The Rams thought they had a 46-28 halftime lead on a three-pointer at the buzzer by
Chuba Ohams was reviewed and determined to come after the buzzer.
•
Nick Honor has scored in double figures in 27 of the 30 games this year.
•
Chuba Ohams is averaging 9.0 ppg and 8.2 rpg over the past 12 games.
•
Ty Perry shot 7-for-10 from the charity stripe, with the three misses his first missed free throws of the year.
• George Washington forward DJ Williams scored 30 points in the first meeting this year but was limited to just eight tonight on 4-for-15 shooting.
• The Fordham win snapped a nine-game George Washington winning streak in the all-time series.
By the Numbers
4 – Blocks by
Chuba Ohams, tying his career-high set against Columbia earlier this year.
4 – Turnovers by the Rams, a season-low (previous low as five against LIU).
7 – Rebounds by
Ty Perry, a season-high (previous high was six vs. JMU).
7 – Blocks for the Rams, one shy of their season-high.
10 – Three-pointers made by the Rams, the 12th time the Rams hit double-figure threes this year.
17:4 – Fordham's assist to turnover ratio in the game.
263 – Three-pointers made this year by Fordham, one shy of the school record set in 2016-2017.
1,529 – All-time wins for Fordham.
What's Next?
• The Rams return to action, and close out the regular season, with a trip to Philadelphia to face the La Salle University Explorers for an Atlantic 10 contest on Saturday, March 9, at 4:00 p.m.
• It will be the 57th meeting between Fordham and La Salle on the hardwood.
• The Explores lead the all-time series, which started in the 1953-54 season, 39-17, including a 73-71 win at Fordham on January 23.
