Men’s Basketball Comes Back to Beat Maine

Bronx, N.Y. – On the birthday of Mark Twain, the Fordham men's basketball squad took one of the American author's quotes to heart, "The secret of getting ahead is getting started." Well it took the Rams a little while to get started but when they did they managed to erase a late six-point deficit to defeat the University of Maine, 72-67, in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 7-1 on the season while Maine falls to 4-3. It is the first 7-1 start to the season since the 2015-2016 season.
 
Grad student guard Darius Quisenberry led the Rams with 18 points while grad student forward Khalid Moore added 16 point sand ten rebounds for his first career double-double. Junior center Abdou Tsimbila also had a double-double for Fordham, his second straight, with ten points and eleven rebounds, while sophomore guard Zach Riley (11) also finished in double figures.
 
The Rams trailed by six at the break, 34-28, and again, 55-49, with 6:58 remaining when  Moore three-point play started a 14-2 Fordham run as the Rams took a 63-57 lead on a Moore layup with 3:02 left.
 
The Blacks Bears would get the Fordham lead down to one twice over the final two minutes, the last at 66-65 with 1:12 on the clock. Quisenberry iced the game for the Rams by sinking four free throws over the final 21 seconds.
 
Takeaways
• Abdou Tsimbila is averaging 10.0 ppg and 12.7 rpg over the past three games.
 
• Darius Quisenberry has scored in double figures in all eight games this year.
 
• The Rams are 7-0 at home this year, the first 7-0 start in the Rose Hill Gym since 2018, the first against seven Div. I teams since 1990.
 
• The Rams now lead the all-time series, 3-2.
 
• After committing nine turnovers in the first half which Maine converted into 15 points, the Rams turned the ball over just four times in the second half and the Black Bears didn't capitalize on any of them.
 
• Fordham assistant strength and conditioning coach Stephen Georgio celebrated his birthday today.
 
• Former Rams Eric Paschall attended the game.
 
• Maine director of basketball operations Tommy Freeman served as an assistant coach for Hargrave Military Academy where he coached Fordham freshman Elijah Gray.
 
By the Numbers
 
10 – Rebounds by Khalid Moore, a career-high (previous high was with vs. USC last year at Georgia Tech).
 
11 – Points by Zach Riley, a career-high (previous high was eight at UMass last year).
 
672 – All-time wins for Fordham in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
1,561 – All-time wins for the Rams.
 
1,774 – Career collegiate points for Darius Quisenberry.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams will travel to New Orleans to face the Tulane University Green Wave on Saturday, December 3, in the Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse at 11:30 a.m. (EST).
 
• It will be the third meeting between Fordham and Tulane on the hardwood, the first since 2017.
 
• The Green Wave lead the all-time series, 2-0.
 
• Tulane took the first meeting, 80-69, in the New Orleans Arena on November 17, 1999 and the second, 63-55, at the Jamaica Classic on November 19, 2017.