Men’s Basketball Runs By UMass, 77-67

Bronx, N.Y. – In Fordham's last home game, someone in the student section held up a sign asking Ram head coach Keith Urgo for a kiss. Today it was surprising that no one held up a sign asking for Urgo's hand in marriage as every February 8 is known as Propose Day. Despite no offers to wed, Urgo's troops overcome a sluggish first half to defeat the University of Massachusetts, 77-67, in an Atlantic 10 contest in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 19-5 overall, 7-4 in the Atlantic 10, while Massachusetts falls to 13-11 overall, 4-8 in the conference. The 19 wins for the Rams are the most since the 1990-1991 squad went 25-8.
 
Grad student guard Darius Quisenberry led the Rams with 21 points, shooting 12-for-14 from the free throw stripe, while grad student forward Khalid Moore added 19 points and seven rebounds.
 
The Rams trailed by as many as ten in the first half and were down seven at the break, 39-32.
 
Fordham opened the second half on fire, using a 19-4 run to take a 51-43 advantage on a pair of Quisenberry free throws 6:20 into the period.
 
The Rams got the lead to as many as 15 twice midway through the half, the last at 62-47, on a Moore layup with 10:30 left.
 
The Minutemen were able to close the gap to six twice later in the game, the final time at 69-63 with 1:52 remaining before the Rams closed out the game outscoring UMass 8-4 to secure the win.
 
Takeaways
• The 7-4 start to the Atlantic 10 season is Fordham's best since the 2007 team also opened 7-4.
 
• Fordham has won seven of nine Atlantic 10 games for the first time since joining the conference in 1995.
 
• The Rams held an opponent below its season scoring average in six of the past seven games as UMass entered the game averaging 71.8 ppg (St. Bonaventure was the lone exception, scoring 68 and was averaging 67.1 ppg).
 
• The Rams held the Minutemen to 28 second half points as the Minutemen shot just 16.7% 91-6) from behind the arc after shooting .500 (4-8) in the first.
 
• Darius Quisenberry was presented a commemorative ball prior to the game in recognition of scoring his 2,000^th career point at Richmond on Sunday.
 
• Fordham has taken seven of the past eleven games from the Minutemen.
 
• The Rams improve 9-4 when trailing or tied at the half this year, including six of the Atlantic 10 wins.
 
• The game was part of the Rising Coaches DEI initiative. The DEI Alliance is made up of 12 different minority coaches and social justice organizations. Their mission is to use their platform as leaders in sports to impact change in the profession and their communities. (follow on Twitter at @ Rising Coaches DEI-Alliance & @darryljacobs04)
 
By the Numbers
9 – Rebounds for Abdou Tsimbila, a game-high.
 
4 – Steals by Kyle Rose, tying his season-high.
 
15 – Home wins for Fordham this year, setting a school record (former mark was 14 by the 2015-2016).
 
19 – Wins for head coach Keith Urgo, tying him for the most for a first-year Fordham head coach with John Bach (1950-1951)(school record is 26 by Digger Phelps in 1970-1971).
 
28- Career 20-point games for Darius Quisenberry.
 
66 – Steals recorded by the Rams over the past six games.
 
104 – Career double digit scoring games for Darius Quisenberry.
 
681 – All-time wins in the Rose Hill Gym for the Rams.
 
1,573 – Al-time wins for Fordham.
 
2,022 – Career points for Darius Quisenberry.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams continue the 2022-2023 Atlantic 10 season by traveling to Davidson, N.C., to face the Davidson College Wildcats in Belk Arena on Saturday, February 11, at 2:30 p.m.
 
• It will be the 17th meeting between Fordham and Davidson on the hardwood.
 
• The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 14-2.
 
• Davidson has won 12 straight, including this year's first meeting, 57-43, on December 28 in the Rose Hill Gym behind 13 points and eleven rebounds from Sam Mennenga.