Bronx, N.Y. – It's said that a cat cornered is when a cat is at its most dangerous. The Fordham men's basketball squad found that out the hard way tonight as Davidson College entered the game on a three-game losing streak but the Wildcats scratched their way to a 79-69 Atlantic 10 win over the Rams in the Rose Hill Gym on Wednesday.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 8-9 overall, 2-2 in the Atlantic 10, while Davidson improves to 11-6 overall, 1-3 in the conference.
Sophomore guard
Will Richardson led the Rams with a team-high 16 points while sophomore forward
Elijah Gray added 12 points and a career-high eleven rebounds for his first collegiate double-double.
The Rams tied the game at 50 on a pair of
Joshua Rivera free throws with 7:57 left and trailed by one, 55-54, following a Richardson layup 1:50 later. But an 8-3 Davidson run gave the Wildcats 63-57 advantage with 3:15 remaining.
A Gray dunk at the 1:59 mark cut the Fordham deficit to three, 65-62, but that was as close as the Rams would get as Davidson made nine of its ten free throws over the next 1:43 before the Wildcats closed the game with a Connor Kochera three-point play just before the buzzer.
Takeaways
• Senior guard
Japhet Medor, Fordham's leading scorer, left the game with an injury in the first half and did not return for the second half.
• Senior guard
Antrell Charlton filled the stat sheet tonight with eight rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
• Fordham recorded ten steals, the seventh time this year the Rams had double digit steals in a game.
• The Rams grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, the 15
th time this year they recorded double figures in offensive rebounds.
• Fordham outscored Davidson 34-6 in bench points.
By the Numbers
4 – Steals tonight by
Kyle Rose, who entered the game second in the Atlantic 10 in steals/game (2.1).
4 – Blocks by
Elijah Gray, a career-high (previous high was two vs. Binghamton last year).
8 – Rebounds by
Antrell Charlton, a season-high (previous high was seven vs. Abilene Christian).
11 – Rebounds for
Elijah Gray, a career-high (previous high was seven which he did twice).
125 – Games played by
Kyle Rose, tied for second all-time at Fordham.
137 – Career blocks for
Abdou Tsimbila, seventh all-time for the Rams.
187 – Career steals for
Kyle Rose, tied for seventh on the Fordham career list.
What's Next?
• The Rams continue the 2024 Atlantic 10 season by hosting the Loyola University Chicago Ramblers in the historic Rose Hill Gym on Saturday, January 20, at 1:00 p.m.
• It will be the fourth meeting between Fordham and Loyola Chicago on the hardwood.
• The Rams lead the all-time series, 2-1.
• Fordham took last year's meeting, 71-69, on February 22 in Chicago as
Darius Quisenberry scored a game-high 26 points, shooting 4-for-7 from behind the arc, while
Khalid Moore added 19 points and six rebounds for the Rams.
• The Ramblers are in their second season in the Atlantic 10.
• The Ramblers took the first meeting, 64-50, on November 26, 2011 in Chicago while the Rams won the second, 83-69, in the Rose Hill Gym on December 23, 2013.
