BRONX N.Y. – American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan once said "Steal a little and they throw you in jail. Steal a lot and they make you king." Well tonight the Fordham men's basketball team are kings as they recorded 18 steals in an 80-52 win over Fairleigh Dickinson University in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the win, Fordham improves to 4-3 on the year while FDU falls to 4-5.
Fordham was led by sophomore forward
Joshua Rivera, who scored a game-high 13 points and added seven rebounds, while senior forward
Abdou Tsimbila and sophomore guard
Will Richardson each netted ten points.
The Rams led by four, 27-23, with 3:35 left in the first half but scored the final ten points of the period to take a 37-23 lead at the break. Richardson scored four of the ten while senior guards
Japhet Medor and
Kyle Rose each had three.
Fordham built the lead to 16 early in the second half before the Knights managed to cut it to ten, 41-31, 2:43 into the half.
The Rams got the lead back to 16, 47-31, on a
Romad Dean layup with 15:09 remaining, and led by 13, 48-35, two minutes later before using a 17-1 run to take a commanding 65-36 lead on a
Zach Riley basket with 8:09 on the clock.
Takeaways
• Tsimbila, who only played 2:23 during the first half due to foul troubles, scored all ten of his points in six minutes of action in the second half.
•
Kyle Rose pulled down seven rebounds in his second straight game (one shy of his career-high).
• The 18 steals are the most for the Rams since they recorded 21 against Duquesne on February 14, 2001.
• Eleven different Rams scored tonight.
• The game marked the first time since 1958 that Fordham recorded two wins by 28 points or more (Fordham opened the 1957-58 season on December 3 with a 94-50 win over Roanoke before defeating Rhode Island, 83-50, on December 14).
• The 52 points is a season-low for the Knights.
• FDU entered the game averaging 88.6 ppg.
• The Rams have taken all four meetings with FDU.
• Fordham is 70-27 all-time against schools currently in the Northeast Conference, including a win against Wagner in this year's season-opener.
By the Numbers
6 – Steals by
Kyle Rose, a career-high (previous high was five vs. La Salle in 2021).
11.1% - Three-point field goal percentage for FDU (2-18), a season-low for a Fordham opponent.
20 – Assists by the Rams, a season-high.
23 – First half points by FDU, a season-low for a Fordham opponent.
24 – Turnovers by FDU, the fourth straight game and fifth overall this year that a Fordham opponent had 20+ turnovers.
24 – Points off turnovers scored by the Rams.
+26 – The final +/- number for
Will Richardson.
37 – Largest lead of the night for Fordham (79-42).
42 – Points in the paint for the Rams.
164 – Career steals for
Kyle Rose, tenth all-time at Fordham.
687 – All-time wins in the Rose Hill Gym for the Rams.
1,582 – All-time wins for Fordham.
What's Next?
• The Rams continue the 2023-24 season by hosting the Tulane University Green Wave in the historic Rose Hill Gym on Sunday, December 3, at 1:00 p.m.
• It will be the fourth meeting between Fordham and Tulane on the hardwood, the first since 2017.
• The Green Wave lead the all-time series, 2-1.
• Fordham took last year's meeting, 95-90, in New Orleans on December 3 behind 23 points from
Darius Quisenberry and 20 points and ten rebounds from
Khalid Moore.
