Washington, D.C. – In the first half of today's Atlantic 10 Championship second round game, points seemed to be more difficult to find than an independent politician in Washington, D.C. But Fordham grad student
Chuba Ohams put Fordham on his back in the second half, scoring 16 of his game-high 20 points to lead the Rams to a 54-49 win over George Mason University at the Capital One Arena.
With the win, Fordham improves to 16-15 on the season and advances to face top-seeded Davidson in the quarterfinals on Friday at 12:00 p.m. George Mason closes out its season at 14-16.
Ohams added 16 rebounds to his 20 points for his ninth straight double-double and his school-record 21st of the season. Sophomore guard
Antrell Charlton also scored in double figures for the Rams, netting eleven points to go with seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
The Rams found themselves down eleven three times in the second half, the final at 35-24 with 12:23 remaining. Fordham then got offensive, outscoring the Patriots 13-2 over the next four minutes to knot the game at 37.
Zach Riley had a big hand in the run, scoring a three-point play and then sinking three free throws to cap the spurt.
The score was tied three more times over the next 4:46, the final at 48 with four minutes left. Both offenses failed to score over the next 2:10 before Ohams connected on a pair of free throws with 1:50 on the clock to give the Rams the lead for good.
A Josh Oduro free throw ten seconds later made it a one-point game, 50-49, but that was as close as the Patriots would get as Ohams scored a basket and two free throws of the final 32 seconds to secure the win for Fordham.
Takeaways
• Fordham is now 3-1 all-time vs. George Mason at A-10 Championship.
• The Rams advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2007 and the fourth time overall.
• Fordham improved to 3-0 on Thursdays.
• The Rams won for the fourth time in 18 games when being outshot by their opponent.
• The Fordham bench outscored the George Mason bench, 26-14.
• The Rams outrebounded the Patriots, 47-36, and are now 13-6 when outrebounding an opponent this year.
• George Mason entered the game averaging 71.5 ppg but the Rams held the Patriots to an average of 48.0 ppg in their two meetings this year.
• The Patriots were averaging 8.5 offensive rebounds/game entering the contest but the Rams allowed just five offensive boards today.
•
Chuba Ohams' 16 rebounds is the second most for a Ram in an Atlantic 10 Championship game.
• Sophomore
Antrell Charlton led the Rams in rebounding for the 16th time this year.
• Grad student guard
Darius Quisenberry was held scoreless for the first time this year (he has scored in double figures in 22 of his 26 games this year)
•
Antrell Charlton and
Kyle Rose only Rams to play in all 31 games
By the Numbers
3 - Charges drawn by the Rams.
9 – Points for freshman
Patrick Kelly (on 3-for-3 shooting from behind the arc), a season-high.
10 – Rebounds for
Abdou Tsimbila, a season-high.
19 - First half points for Fordham, a season-low.
+19 –
Patrick Kelly's +/- for the game.
21 – Double-doubles on the year for
Chuba Ohams, breaking Chris Gaston's record of 19 set in 2009-2010.
26 – Career double-doubles for
Chuba Ohams.
112 – Career blocks for
Chuba Ohams, moving him ahead of Sanford Jenkins (1988-1992) and into seventh all-time at Fordham.
736 – Career rebounds for
Chuba Ohams, 12th on the Fordham career rebounding list.
1,546 – All-time wins for the Rams.
What's Next?
• Fordham faces top-seeded Davidson College in the first quarterfinal game of the 2022 Atlantic 10 Championship at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., on Friday, March 11, at 12:00 p.m.
• Fordham dropped both games to Davidson this year, 69-66, in the Rose Hill Gym on January 22, and, 66-45, at Davidson on February 26.
• The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 12-2.
• Davidson has won ten straight over Fordham.
• It will be the first meeting between Fordham and Davidson at the Atlantic 10 Championship.
