St. Louis, Mo. - In 1926 Fordham baseball Hall of Famer Frankie Frisch was traded from the New York Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals. Much like the curse of the Bambino haunted Red Sox fans for years, the curse of the Fordham Flash may be haunting Ram fans in the city of St. Louis. For the ninth time Fordham traveled to the Gateway to the West only to return home empty-handed as Saint Louis University cooled off the Rams with a 53-45 Atlantic 10 decision in the Chaifetz Arena.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 9-6 overall, 2-1 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Louis improves to 11-5 overall, 2-1 in the conference.
Graduate student guard
Darius Quisenberry led the Rams with 15 points, and he added three steals, while graduate student forward
Chuba Ohams finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
Unlike the previous two games, the Rams couldn't overcome a double-digit deficit as Fordham recorded its lowest offensive field goal percentage of season at 29% (16-56).
The Rams took a six-point lead, 15-9, with 7: 49 left in the first lf but the Billikens outscored the Rams 18-6 over the final 7:09 to take a 27-21 halftime lead.
Fordham trailed by six three times in the second half, the final time at 36-30, following a
Kam'ron Cunningham jumper with 11:03 remaining.
Saint Louis managed to get the lead to eleven, 52-41, with just over four minutes left. A pair of
Ahmad Harrison free throws made it a nine-point game seconds later but that was as close as the rams would get.
Takeaways
•
Chuba Ohams entered the game leading the Atlantic 10, and ranking fourth in the NCAA, in rebounding, averaging 11.6 rpg.
•
Darius Quisenberry has scored in double figures in 15 of the 16 games this year.
•
Josh Colon-Navarro made his second start of the season
•
Abdou Tsimbila was called for offensive and defensive goaltending in the game.
• The Rams featured their fifth different starting lineup of the season.
• Fordham fell despite forcing 20 Saint Louis turnovers
• Saint Louis entered the game as the top scoring team in the Atlantic 10, averaging 79.5 ppg.
• Saint Louis entered the game as the top offensive rebounding team in the Atlantic 10, averaging 13.1 offensive rebounds/game, and had 13 today.
• The 27 Saint Louis first half points was the second lowest first half total for the Billikens this year.
By the Numbers
9 – Steals recorded by the Rams, three each for
Darius Quisenberry and
Antrell Charlton.
12 – Points off turnovers for Fordham.
20 – Saint Louis turnovers, a season-high for a Fordham opponent.
48 – Rebounds by Saint Louis, a season-high for a Fordham opponent.
What's Next?
• The Rams return to action and continue Atlantic 10 play on Tuesday, January 17, as they host the University of Richmond Spiders in the historic Rose Hill Gym at 8:00 p.m.
• The game is a rescheduled game that was originally scheduled for January 8.
• It will be the 31st meeting between Fordham and Richmond on the hardwood.
• The Spiders lead the all-time series, which started in 1985, 22-8.
