BRONX, N.Y. – Today is the first Sunday of Advent which means it's time to start opening your Advent calendar. Advent calendars may contain chocolates, toys, or candy but when the Fordham men's basketball team opens the first day on its calendar chances are all they will get is a whistle. The Rams were called for 30 fouls today and outscored 32-8 from the charity stripe as Tulane University defeated Fordham, 89-81, in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the loss, Fordham evens its record at 4-4 on the season while Tulane improves to 6-1.
The Rams were led by senior guard
Antrell Charlton, who netted a career-high 18 points, and he added six rebounds, three assists and three steals, while senior forward
Abdou Tsimbila finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. Sophomore guard
Will Richardson added a season-high 18 points while sophomore forwards
Joshua Rivera (13) and
Elijah Gray (10), and senior guard
Kyle Rose (11) also scored in double figures.
Fordham led by four, 72-68, on a Tsimbila jumper with 4:51 remaining when the Green Wave scored ten unanswered points to take a 78-72 lead with 2:12 on the clock.
A Richardson three 16 seconds later cut the Fordham deficit to three, 78-75, but Tulane responded with a three-pointer with 1:35 left to make it a six-point game, 81-75.
The Rams had two chances to cut the Tulane lead but a
Japhet Medor three bounced off and, after stealing the ball, Richardson wasn't able to convert a layup.
A pair of free throws boosted the Green Wave lead to eight, 83-75, with just under a minute remaining and the closest Fordham would get from there was five, 83-78, following three Richardson free throws.
Takeaways
•
Abdou Tsimbila has four career double-doubles.
• Tsimbila blocked three shots today to bring his season total to 12.
• Tsimbila, Gray, and
Kyle Rose all fouled out for the Rams.
• Fordham's leading scorer,
Japhet Medor, was held without a point.
• The Rams fell despite outrebounding Tulane, 38-33.
• The Fordham bench outscored the Tulane bench, 26-6.
• Tulane now leads the all-time series, 3-1.
By the Numbers
6 – Assists by
Kyle Rose, a season-high and one shy of his career-high.
12 – Lead changes in the game.
14 – Rebounds by
Abdou Tsimbila, a season-high and one shy of his career-high.
16 – Offensive rebounds for Fordham which the Rams turned into 16 second chance points.
18 – Points for
Antrell Charlton, tying his career-high set against Rice in 2021.
23 – Assists for the Rams, a season-high and the second straight 20-assist game.
What's Next?
• The Rams continue the 2023-24 season by hosting the NJIT Highlanders in the historic Rose Hill Gym on Wednesday, December 6, at 7:00 p.m.
• It will be the third meeting between Fordham and NJIT on the hardwood, the first since 2018.
• The two schools split the first two games with Fordham winning the first matchup, 88-44, on December 8, 2007 and NJIT winning the most recent, 53-50 on December 11, 2018.
• The Rams are 16-5 all-time against schools currently in the America East Conference.
