Men’s Basketball Takes Down UMass, 85-73

Bronx, N.Y. – There were 15 assists recorded by the Fordham men's basketball squad tonight but the biggest assist came before the game started. The Rams hung a Ukrainian flag in the Rose Hill Gym and paused for a moment of silence prior to the contest to show their solidarity with the people of Ukraine, most notably for teammate Rostyslav Novitskyi. The Kyiv native responded with a season-high ten points, while grad student forward Chuba Ohams recorded his sixth straight double-double, scoring a career-best 23 points, to lead Fordham to an 85-73 Atlantic 10 win over the University of Massachusetts.
 
With the win, Fordham evens its record at 14-14 overall, 7-9 in the Atlantic 10, while Massachusetts falls to 12-16 overall, 5-11 in the conference.
 
Ohams pulled down eleven rebounds and dished out five assists to go with his career-high 23 points, while grad student guard Josh Colon-Navarro added 14 points, shooting 3-for-4 from behind the arc. Novitskyi was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 from long distance to record his ten points.
 
After a slow start for both teams on offense, the Minutemen took an 18-13 lead with 7:37 left in the first half but the Rams used a 24-15 run to take a 37-33 lead with 27 seconds remaining. UMass cut the Fordham lead to one with a three at the four second mark but Kyle Rose beat the buzzer with a half court heave to allow the Rams to regain a four-point lead at the break, 40-36.
 
Massachusetts quickly tied the game at 40 early in the second half but a 17-4 Fordham run, capped by a Novitskyi basket, put the Rams up 13, 57-44, with 14:34 left and the Rams trailed by single digits for only two minutes the rest of the way.
 
Takeaways
• Grad student guard Darius Quisenberry returned to action after missing five games with an injury. He scored eight points and two rebounds in 26 minutes.
 
• It was only the third time in 23 games this year that Quisenberry didn't score in double figures.
 
• Chuba Ohams is averaging 17.8 ppg and 12.0 rpg over the past six games.
 
• Antrell Charlton, who had six helpers tonight, is averaging 5.2 assists/game over the past six games.
 
• UMass entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 with 10.0 made three-pointers/game but tonight it was the Rams who connected on eleven shots from behind the arc while the Minutemen made only six.
 
• The 45 second-half points scored by Fordham was one shy of the season-high.
 
• Fordham enters the month of March with a .500 or better record for the first time since 2015-2016.
 
• All nine Fordham players who saw action scored in the game.
 
By the Numbers
10 – Steals recorded by the Rams, the sixth double-digit stelas game this year.
 
13 – Josh Colon-Navarro's +/- for the game.
 
18 – Double-doubles on the year for Chuba Ohams, one shy of the Fordham record during the shot clock era.
 
23 – Career double-doubles for Chuba Ohams.
 
57.9% - Fordham's three-point shooting percentage (11-19), a season-high.
 
85 – Points scored by Fordham, a season-high for a non-overtime game.
 
107 – Career blocks for Chuba Ohams, ninth all-time at Fordham.
 
665 – All-time wins in the Rose Hill Gym for the Rams.

692 – Career rebounds for Chuba Ohams, moving him ahead of Charlie Yelverton and into 13th on the Fordham career rebounding list.
 
1,544 – All-time wins for Fordham.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams return to action and continue Atlantic 10 play on Wednesday, March 2, as they complete the home-and-home series with the University of Massachusetts Minutemen by traveling to Amherst, Mass., to face the Minutemen in the Mullins Center at 7:00 p.m.
 
• It will be the 51st meeting between Fordham and Massachusetts on the hardwood.
 
• The Minutemen lead the all-time series, which started in the 1967-68 season, 32-18.