Men’s Basketball Falls in OT to St. Bonaventure

Bronx, N.Y. – The United Parcel Service, whose drivers wear uniforms similar in color to the St. Bonaventure University Bonnies, used to have a slogan that read, "What can Brown do for you?" For the Fordham men's basketball team that answer to that question was very little over the past few years. But tonight it seemed as if the Rams would snap their losing streak to the Bonnies until St. Bonaventure outscored Fordham 9-2 in overtime for a 62-55 Atlantic 10 win in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 7-13 overall, 1-7 in the Atlantic 10, while St. Bonaventure breaks a three-game losing streak to improve to 13-8 overall, 5-3 in the conference.
 
Sophomore guard Ty Perry led the Rams with 16 points, hitting four three-pointers, while senior guard Antwon Portley and freshman guard Kyle Rose each added nine points, and sophomore guard Jalen Cobb chipped in with seven points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
 
The Rams led by one at the break, 23-22, but the Bonnies managed to take two five-point leads in the second half, the second at 50-45, with 4:10 left in regulation. A Perry three brought the Rams within two, and after a St. Bonaventure free throw, at 3:24, Portley buried a three-pointer with 1:12 on the clock to knot the game at 51.
 
A pair of Kyle Lofton free throws gave the Bonnies a 53-51 lead with 50 seconds remaining before Portley sent the game to overtime with a jumper in the paint 25 seconds later.
 
St. Bonaventure scored the first seven points of overtime to take a 60-53 lead with under a minute left to seal the victory.
 
Takeaways
• The Fordham defense held St. Bonaventure's Kyle Lofton, who entered the game leading the Bonnies in scoring (14.3 ppg), to just six points on six free throws.
 
• It was the first game all season that Lofton did not connect on a field goal.
 
• The Rams were without the services of senior guard Erten Gazi and junior guard Ivan Raut due to injury.
 
• Ty Perry has netted double-figures in four of the past five games and six of the past eight.
 
• Jalen Cobb had a string of four straight double-digit scoring games broken tonight.
 
• It was the third overtime game of the year for the Rams, who have lost all three.
 
• The Rams were outscored 17-5 from the charity stripe.
 
By the Numbers
6 – Assists by Jalen Cobb, a season-high.
 
7 – Rebounds by Jalen Cobb, tying his season-high.
 
9 – Points by Kyle Rose, a season-high.
 
9 – Number of different lineups used by Fordham this year.
 
10 – Steals by Fordham, the seventh double-digit steal game of the year for the Rams.
 
10 – Lead changes in the game.
 
12 – Three-pointers made by Fordham, a season-high.
 
50 – Rebounds by St. Bonaventure, a season-high for a Fordham opponent.
 
78.2% - Percentage of Fordham points scored by freshmen and sophomores (43 of 55).
 
What's Next?
• The Rams continue Atlantic 10 play on Saturday, February 1, as they travel to Dayton, Ohio, to face the seventh-ranked University of Dayton Flyers in the UD Arena at 4:30 p.m. in a game that will be televised on the NBC Sports Network.
 
• It will be the 37th meeting between Fordham and Dayton on the hardwood.
 
• The Flyers lead the all-time series, which started in 1952-53, 31-5, and have won the past 15 match-ups, including a 75-52 win on the Rose Hill Gym on January 23 last year where Josh Cunningham scored 15 points and grabbed eleven rebounds for the Flyers while Chuba Ohams had ten points and eight boards for the Rams.