Daytona Beach, Fla. – On the same day that Fordham faced off with the University of San Francisco for the first (an only time before today) in a men's basketball contest, Apollo 8 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, 60 miles south of Daytona Beach. Apollo 8 was the first crewed space vehicle to break out of Earth's orbit, and the three American astronauts went further from Earth than anyone in history. Unfortunately the Fordham men's basketball squad couldn't break out of a cold first half as the Rams fell to the University of San Francisco, 85-64, in the third place game of the Beach Bracket at the 2024 Sunshine Slam played at the Ocean Center.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 3-5 on the year while San Francisco improves to 5-2.
The Rams were led by
Jackie Johnson III who scored a team-high 17 points, shooting 7-for-14 from the field, while sophomore forward
Jahmere Tripp added eleven points and junior forward
Joshua Rivera netted ten points.
The Rams trailed by 16 at the half, 45-29, but opened the second half with a 6-3 spurt to cut the deficit to 13, 48-35, on a Johnson jumper in the paint two minutes into the period.
But the Dons scored the next five points to bump their lead up to 18, 53-35, a minute and a half later.
A Rivera free throw made it a 53-36 game with 16:11 remaining but that was as close as the Rams would get.
San Francisco used hot shooting in the first half to take an early 12-3 lead before Fordham a
Japhet Medor three-pointer and layup over the next 35 seconds pulled the Rams within four, 12-8, with 16:10 left in the half.
The Dons continued to shoot well from the field and eventually built the lead to as many as 24, 41-17, with 4:51 left but the Rams were able to outscore San Francisco 12-4 over the final four minutes of the half to cut the deficit to 16 at the break, 45-29
Takeaways
•
Jackie Johnson III has scored in double figures in all eight games this year.
• Johnson has scored 146 points over his first eight games, the third most scored by a player in his first eight games for Fordham.
• Jon Severe netted 155 points in his first eight games in 2013 while Darius Quisenberry netted 150 over his first eight games in 2021.
• This is the second straight year that Johnson has played in the Sunshine Slam, appearing in the tournament last year with UNLV where he averaged 11.5 ppg in two games for the Runnin' Rebels.
• Since returning to action after missing the first four games of the year,
Jahmere Tripp is averaging 11.5 ppg, shooting 53.1% (17-32) from the field and 60.0% from behind the arc (6-10).
• Senior guard
Zach Riley made his first start of the year.
•
Joshua Rivera also dished out a season-high three assists.
• Former New York Knick, and San Francisco alum, Bill Cartwright was in attendance.
By the Numbers
7 – Rebounds by
Zach Riley, a career-high (previous high was five which he did twice, most recently yesterday against Penn State).
14 – Offensive rebounds for the Rams, the fifth time this year the Rams recorded double figures in offensive rebounds.
19 – Fordham points scored off San Francisco turnovers.
35 – Bench points for Fordham.
What's Next?
• The Rams will return to the Bronx to host the University of New Hampshire in the historic Rose Hill Gym on Sunday, December 1 at 2:00 p.m.
• It will be the third meeting between the Rams and the Wildcats, the first since 2022.
• Fordham won the first two meetings, 60-56, in 2008 and 79-61, in 2022, with both games being played in the Rose Hill Gym.
• It's the second of four games this year against an America East opponent.
• The Rams are 16-6 against schools currently in the America East.
