Philadelphia, Pa. – He's one of the shortest players on the court but tonight graduate student guard
Josh Colon-Navarro came up big, hitting a career-high five three-pointers to key a second half Fordham comeback as the Rams opened their Atlantic 10 schedule with a 69-61 win at La Salle University in Tom Gola Arena.
With the win, Fordham improves to 8-5 overall while La Salle drops to 5-6.
Colon-Navarro finished with 17 points, tying his career-high, while graduate student guard
Darius Quisenberry led all Fordham scorers with 19. Graduate student forward
Chuba Ohams notched his eighth double-double of the year, scoring 15 points and grabbing eleven rebounds.
The Explorers scored the first six points of the second half to take their largest lead of the night, 37-26, 1:30 into the half and then led by nine, 41-32, with 13:22 left. An
Antonio Daye, Jr. three-pointer started a 13-1 Fordham run as the Rams took a 45-42 lead on Colon-Navarro's fourth three of the game midway through the half.
Later in the half, Fordham used a 9-2 spurt to turn a 45-44 advantage into a 54-46 lead on a Quisenberry three with 8:06 remaining.
It was apparent early that both teams were coming off long breaks as the play was slow over the first five minutes before Ohams scored eight straight Fordham points to give the Rams a 15-14 lead midway through the first.
The Rams got the lead to as many as four, 21-17, on a
Kyle Rose three with just over eight minutes left in the half before the Explorers closed out the period with a 14-5 run to take a 31-26 lead at the break.
Takeaways
•
Antonio Daye, Jr. was held to seven pints, the first time this year he didn't hit double figures.
•
Antonio Daye, Jr. entered the game first in the Atlantic 10 and third in the NCAA in free throws made with 65 and made one tonight.
• First Fordham win at La Salle since 2016 (snaps a five-game losing streak at La Salle).
• The Rams outscored La Salle, 43-30, in the second half.
• La Salle entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 in rebounding (39.1/game) and outrebounded Fordham 42-32.
• It was just fourth time the Rams have been outrebounded this year.
• The Fordham and La Salle coaching staffs are very familiar with each other. Fordham head coach
Kyle Neptune and La Salle head coach Ashley Howard served as assistant coaches at Villanova while Fordham associate head coach
Keith Urgo was an assistant for La Salle assistant coach Pat Chambers when Chambers was head coach at Penn State. Neptune, Urgo, and Chambers also served together at Villanova.
• The game was just one of two Atlantic 10 games played on Thursday night (five games were postponed) with the visiting team win both games.
By the Numbers
9 – Number of players dressed by the Rams for the game.
9 - Assists by
Antrell Charlton, a season-high for a Ram.
17 – Points scored by
Josh Colon-Navarro, tying his career-high, which he has done four times.
18 – Days between games for the Rams who last played on December 12 against Miami at the Barclays Center.
1,548 – All-time wins for Fordham.
What's Next?
• The Rams return to action and continue Atlantic 10 play on Sunday, January 2, as they host the University of Massachusetts Minutemen in the historic Rose Hill Gym at 2:00 p.m. • It will be the 50th meeting between Fordham and UMass on the hardwood.
• The Minutemen lead the all-time series, which started in the 1967-68 season, 32-17.
• UMass took both of last year's meetings, 65-46, on January 17 in the Rose Hill Gym, and 60-54 in Amherst on February 3.
