St. Louis, Mo. – The Lunar New Year ushered in the Year of the Rat on Saturday. The rat is the first of the 12 signs in the Chinese zodiac. According to one myth, the Jade Emperor said the order would be decided by the order in which they arrived to his party. The Rat tricked the Ox into giving him a ride. Then, just as they arrived at the finish line, Rat jumped down and landed ahead of Ox, becoming first. The Saint Louis Billikens played the role of rat today, landing ahead of Fordham 55-39, in an Atlantic 10 game in the Chaifetz Arena.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 7-12 overall, 1-6 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Louis improves to 15-5 overall, 4-3 in the conference.
Sophomore guard
Jalen Cobb led the Rams with 12 points while senior guard
Antwon Portley, seeing his first action since December 20, netted seven and added four rebounds.
The Billikens jumped out to a 10-0 lead and led by 16 at the break, 32-16. The closest the Rams would get in the second half was 12, 50-38, on a
Joel Soriano jumper with 2:47 remaining.
Takeaways
• For the second straight game both coaching staffs wore sneakers with their suits as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Week promotion to raise awareness and funds for cancer research, as well as prevention screening, and early detection.
•
Antwon Portley returned to action after missing seven games but senior guard
Erten Gazi missed the game with an injury (Gazi missed four games before seeing action last week against George Washington).
• The Rams have never won a game in St. Louis.
• Saint Louis entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 in field goal defense (.400) and held Fordham to shooting just .308 (15-48) on the day.
• Saint Louis entered the game leading the A-10 in rebounding (40.95/game) and pulled down 42 today (to 27 for the Rams).
• Saint Louis' Jordan Goodwin (10.74) and Hasahn French (10.67) entered the game ranked one and two, respectively in rebounding in the Atlantic 10 and grabbed 13 rebounds each in the game.
• The game was part of the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight (JBS), a program developed by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) in 2008 to bring greater awareness of Jesuit education and its shared mission through the more than 80 games played by men's and women's basketball teams every season.
By the Numbers
7 – Rebounds for
Ty Perry, tying his career-high.
7 – Turnovers by Fordham, a season-low.
15.3 - Scoring average for
Jalen Cobb over the past four game (49+)
16 – First half points by the Rams, a season-low.
39 – Points by Fordham, a season-low.
What's Next?
• The Rams continue Atlantic 10 play on Wednesday, January 29, as they host the St. Bonaventure University Bonnies in the historic Rose Hill Gym at 7:00 p.m.
• It will be the 44th meeting between Fordham and St. Bonaventure on the hardwood.
• The Bonnies lead the all-time series, which started in the 1955-56 season, 28-15 (two St. Bonaventure wins in 2002-03 were later forfeited for use of an ineligible player).
• The Bonnies have won eight straight, including this year's first meeting, 64-44, at St. Bonaventure on January 11.
