Men’s Basketball Advances to Atlantic 10 Semifinals

Brooklyn, N.Y. – The Hindu festival of Holi occurred yesterday. It is a day to celebrate the arrival of spring and the triumph of good over evil and is highlighted with food, singing, dancing, and color, as people paint themselves in bright colors. Fordham men's basketball fans had to wait a day to celebrate but they did their best, including body paint on some Fordham students, but they had plenty to yell about as the Rams defeated La Salle University, 69-61, in a quarterfinal game at the 2023 Atlantic 10 Championship at the Barclays Center.
 
With the win, third-seeded Fordham improves to 25-7 on the year, and advances to play second-seeded Dayton on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
 
The Rams were led by grad students Darius Quisenberry and Khalid Moore. Quisenberry finished with a game-high 22 points, connecting one ten field goals, and he added three assists, while Moore netted 20 points and grabbed eleven rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year. Freshman guard Will Richardson also scored in double figures for the Rams with ten points and he added a pair of steals.
 
The Rams led by eleven at the half, 34-23, thanks to a buzzer-beating dunk from Khalid Moore, but the Explorers opened the second half with an 11-2 run to cut the Fordham lead to two, 36-34, with 17:20 left.
 
A Moore three-pointer ignited a 9-0 Fordham run as the Rams took a 45-34 lead on Quisenberry driving layup with 1:08 remaining.
 
The Rams led by ten, 53-43, following a Moore layup with 6:57 left before La Salle went on 10-4 run to cut the Fordham lead to four, 57-53, at the 4:11 mark. But that was as close as the Explorers would get.
 
Takeaways
• The Rams advance to their second Atlantic 10 semifinal game, the first coming in 2006 when the Rams fell to Xavier
 
• Fordham entered the championship as the three-seed, the highest seed for the Rams in the current format
 
• The 25 wins are the most for a Fordham team since the Rams won 25 in 1990-91 while the 12 Atlantic 10 wins is a school record for most conference wins in a season (in any conference).
 
• The school record for wins in a season is 26, by the 1970-1971 team.
 
• Fordham entered the game leading the Atlantic 10, and ranking 22^nd in the NCAA, in blocked shot and blocked ten tonight.
 
• The ten blocks tied for second most in an All-Atlantic 10 Championship game.
 
• It was Quisenberry's 12^th 20-point game of the year and the 32^nd of his career.
 
• It was the eleventh 20-point game of the year for Moore and his sixth double-figure rebounding game.
 
• It was the sixth game of the season that Quisenberry and Moore both scored 20-points.
 
• Richardson is averaged 14.5 ppg in two games against La Salle this year.
 
By the Numbers
6 – Blocks by Rostyslav Novitskyi, a career-high (previous high was five vs. Davidson last year).
 
9 – Rebounds for Kyle Rose, a career-high.
 
10 – Blocks recorded by Fordham, a season-high.
 
+20 – Kyle Rose's +/- for the game.
 
1,005 – Career collegiate points for Khalid Moore.
 
1,579 – All-time wins for Fordham.
 
2,166 – Career collegiate points for Darius Quisenberry.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams take on second-seeded Dayton on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at the Barclays Center.
 
• The game will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.