Men’s Basketball Falls to Richmond

Bronx, N.Y. – A basketball court is 94 feet long. But today it was only 15 feet that mattered as Richmond outscored Fordham 16-5 from the free throw line to defeat the Rams, 59-53, in an a Atlantic 10 contest in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 7-15 overall, 1-9 in the Atlantic 10, while Richmond improves to 17-6 overall, 7-3 in the conference.
 
Senior guard Antwon Portley led Fordham with 12 points while sophomore guards Ty Perry (11) and Jalen Cobb (10) also finished in double figures. Freshman forward Joel Soriano chipped in with a season-high eleven rebounds.
 
The Rams led by as many as nine in the first half and took a 30-23 lead at the break.
 
A Chris Austin jumper with 11:20 remaining gave the Rams a 44-36 lead but the Fordham offense then went cold as Richmond scored 14 straight points to take a 50-44 lead with 5:20 left and the closest the Rams would get would be three, 55-52, on a Portley basket with 35 seconds remaining.
 
Takeaways
• Jalen Cobb has netted double figures in six of the past seven games.
 
• Onyi Eyisi returned to action after missing a game due to injury but Erten Gazi and Ivan Raut missed the game with injuries.
 
• The Rams fell for the first time in six games this year in which they outrebound their opponent.
 
• The Rams held Richmond to 16.8 points below its season average (the Spiders entered the game second in the conference averaging 75.8 ppg).
 
• The Fordham bench outscored the Richmond bench, 17-8.
 
• Neither team recorded an offensive rebound in the first half and the two teams combined for just six offensive boards in the game.
 
• Fordham held an opponent to under 60 points for the eleventh time in 2019-2020.
 
• The Rams held Richmond to shooting just 36.7% (18-49) in the game, well below their season of 47.0%.
 
• The Spiders entered the game leading the A-10 in free throw shooting (80.2%) but shot just 59.3% (16-27) in the game.
 
• Richmond junior guard Jordan Gaitley is the son of Fordham women's head coach Stephanie Gaitley.
 
By the Numbers
2 – Fordham offensive rebounds, a season-low.
 
10.5 – RPG average for Joel Soriano.
 
11 – Rebounds for Joel Soriano, a season-high (previous high was ten last week at Dayton).
 
14.3 – Points per game for Jalen Cobb over the last seven games.
 
23 – First half points for Richmond, a season-low.
 
29 – Minutes that Fordham led in the game.
 
34 – Fordham defensive rebounds, tying the Rams' season-high.
 
59 – Points scored by Richmond, the second fewest in a game for the Spiders this year.
 
77.4% - Points scored today by the Fordham freshmen and sophomores (41 0f 53).
 
What's Next?
• The Rams continue Atlantic 10 play on Tuesday, February 11, as they travel to Davidson, N.C., to face the Davidson College Wildcats in Belk Arena at 7:00 p.m.
 
• It will be the eleventh meeting between Fordham and Davidson on the hardwood.
 
• The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 8-2, including a 74-62 win in the Rose Hill Gym earlier this year as Jon Axel Gudmunsson scored 21 point and Mike Jones added 15 for Davidson.