Fairfax, Va. – The Fordham University men's basketball team landed at Dulles International Airport on their trip down to George Mason University. The airport in named for John Foster Dulles, the secretary of state under President Eisenhower (and father of Fordham's Avery Cardinal Dulles). He was known for arranging defense treaties such as the
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization and the Central Treaty Organization. Well secretary Dulles would be proud of the defensive efforts put forth by both teams tonight but in the end it was the host team that generated enough offense, defeating Fordham 64-58, in an Atlantic 10 contest inside EagleBank Arena.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 23-7 overall, 11-6 in the Atlantic 10, while George Mason improvise to 18-12 overall, 10-7 in the conference. It marked the Patriots' fifth straight win.
The Rams were led by grad student forward
Khalid Moore, who netted a team-high 21 points and grabbed seven boards. Eleven of Moore's 21 points came from the free throw line. Grad student guard
Darius Quisenberry added ten points, eight boards, and four steals for the Rams.
After erasing an eight-point deficit and holding the Patriots scoreless for the final four minutes of regulation, the Rams had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but an
Antrell Charlton runner bounced out just before the clock expired.
The game was tied at 50 in overtime following a pair of Moore free throws with 3:28 left but the Patriots ran off five straight points to take a 55-50 lead with just under two minutes left.
A
Kyle Rose layup 20 seconds later made it a three-point game, 55-52, but that was as close as Fordham would get as the Patriots hit their free throws down the stretch.
The Rams trailed by seven at the half, 23-16, but opened the second half with a 9-1 run to pull within one, 25-24, on a
Rostyslav Novitskyi layup at the 2:47 into the half.
Fordham trailed by eight, 48-40, with just over four minutes remaining but scored eight straight to knot the game at 48 on a pair of Moore free throws with 1:33 remaining.
After jumping out to an 8-3 lead, the Fordham went cold, scoring just eight points the rest of the half, all on free throws.
Takeaways
•
Abdou Tsimbila, the Atlantic 10's leading shot blocker, rejected one shot and has now recorded at least one block in 25 of the 30 games this year.
•
Rostyslav Novitskyi is shooting .592 (71-120) from inside the arc this year.
• The Rams have won 10 of their last 13 games.
• Fordham forced 18 turnovers in the game, scoring 19 points off the miscues.
• The Rams fell for just the second time in 16 games this year when they commit fewer turnovers than their opponent.
• Each team had two players foul out.
• It was the first overtime game of the year for the Rams.
By the Numbers
11 – Rebounds by
Antrell Charlton, a season-high (career-high is 12 vs. Rice in 2021).
11 – Free throws made by
Khalid Moore, tying his career-high.
33 – Career double-figure scoring games for
Khalid Moore.
55 –Total fouls called in the game.
56 – Blocks this season by
Abdou Tsimbila.
110 – Career double figure scoring games for Darius
Quisenberry.
961 – Career points for
Khalid Moore.
2,123 – Career points for Darius
Quisenberry
What's Next?
• The Rams close out 2022-2023 Atlantic 10 regular season by hosting the Duquesne University Dukes in the historic Rose Hill Gym on Saturday, March 4, at 2:00 p.m.
• It will be the 48th meeting between Fordham and Duquesne on the hardwood.
• The Dukes lead the all-time series, which started in the 1949-50 season, 28-19, but the Rams have taken the past three meetings, including a 65-58 win in Pittsburgh on January 21 behind 19 points and seven rebounds from
Khalid Moore.
• The Rams swept a pair of decisions from Duquesne in 2021-2022.
