Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short vs. Duquesne

Bronx, N.Y. – The word hero comes from the Greek, "hero" which literally translate into "protector" or "defender". The Fordham men's basketball squad took the derivation to heart, playing a strong defensive game on Salute to Heroes Day before falling to Duquesne University, 59-54, in an Atlantic 10 game in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 7-17 overall, 1-11 in the Atlantic 10, while Duquesne improves to 18-6 overall, 8-4 in the conference.
 
The Rams were paced by senior guard Antwon Portley, who netted 16 points and added six rebounds, while sophomore guard Ty Perry added 15 points, three rebounds, and three steals.
 
The game was tied nine times, the final at 45 on a Tavian Dunn-Martin jumper with 6:55 remaining.
 
After a Dunn-Martin three gave the visitors a 48-45 lead a minute later, a Portley basket in the paint made it a one-point game, 48-47, at 5:02.
 
Later in the half, the Rams trailed by five, 55-49, with 27 seconds remaining when a Perry three-pointer made it a 57-54 game with 19 seconds remaining.
 
The Dukes couldn't inbound the ball and the Rams had a chance to tie the game on a Perry three with nine seconds left but it bounced out.
 
Takeaways
• Fordham held Duquesne, who entered the game averaging 71.6 ppg, to 12.6 ppg under that average.
 
• Senior guard Erten Gazi returned to action after missing the past five games (and nine of the past ten) with injury.
 
• The Rams lost sophomore forward Onyi Eyisi to an injury in the first half while redshirt junior forward Chuba Ohams missed his eleventh straight game and junior guard Ivan Raut missed his sixth straight.
 
• Corey Robinson, son of NBA Hall of Famer David Robinson, was the sideline reporter for the NBC Sports Network broadcast.
 
By the Numbers
6 – Largest lead of the game for either team (both teams had a nine-point lead at one point).
 
9.8 – Rpg average for freshman forward Joel Soriano over the past four games.
 
10 – Steals by Fordham, the eighth time this year the Rams have recorded double figures in steals.
 
13 – Lead changes.
 
37.7% - Shooting percentage for Duquesne, who entered the game shooting 44.6% from the field.
 
58.5 – Scoring average by Duquesne in the two games against the Rams.
 
85.7 – Free throw shooting percentage by the Rams (12-14), a season-high.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams continue Atlantic 10 play on Wednesday, February 19, as they travel to Philadelphia to face the La Salle University Explorers in Tom Gola Arena at 8:00 p.m.
 
• It will be the 59th meeting between Fordham and La Salle on the hardwood.
 
• The Explores lead the all-time series, which started in the 1953-54 season, 41-17, and took this year's first meeting, 66-60, on January 5 in the Rose Hill Gym as Scott Spencer and Isiah Dees each scored 13 points for the Explorers while Ivan Raut led all scorers for the Rams with 18.