BRONX, N.Y. (Nov. 8, 2024) – The Fordham men's basketball team will make its second straight trip to a local BIG EAST school to open the 2024-25 season on Saturday afternoon, heading to South Orange to take on Seton Hall.
 
Tip-off inside Walsh Gymnasium is set for 12 p.m. on FS2.  John Fanta and former Saint Joseph's Head Coach Phil Martelli will have the television call from Seton Hall's on-campus home.  The game will also air live on 90.7 FM WFUV with Nick Guzman and Chaz McAdams narrating the action over the airwaves.
 
Fordham and Seton Hall will ignite a long dormant rivalry when they square off in South Orange.  The teams last played in December of 2001, a 66-57 win for the Pirates behind 19 points from Andre Barrett.  It will mark the 50^th meeting all-time between the two programs, a series that the Rams lead 26-23.  The teams played on a near-annual basis from 1950-1990. 
 
The Rams opened the season on Monday night with a 92-60 loss to St. John's in Queens. The Red Storm, which was the second team in the "others receiving votes" category of the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll, shot 54.5% from the floor. 
 
Jackie Johnson III led all scorers with 23 points in the losing effort.  It marked the fourth game of his career with 20 or more points and his first since dropping 30 at George Washington on March 3, 2022, while he was a freshman at Duquesne.  Joshua Rivera also finished in double figures for the Rams, posting 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting to go along with a team-high six rebounds. 
 
Seton Hall welcomes the Rams on the heels of a 57-53 victory over Saint Peter's to open the season on Monday night at Prudential Center.  Graduate transfer Chaunce Jenkins, who spent two seasons apiece at Old Dominion and Wichita State, led the way with 19 points for the Pirates, highlighted by a 9-for-10 effort at the charity stripe.  The Virginia native also grabbed a team-high six boards.  Boston College transfer Prince Aligbe was the only other Pirate to finish in double figures, posting 10 points. 
 
Seton Hall took 37 free throws in its season opener, converting on 24 (64.9%) of those attempts.
 
The Pirates, who won last year's NIT after narrowly missing out on an NCAA Tournament bid, were picked to finish 10^th in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' poll.  Seton Hall returns just one of its top five scorers from last year's team that went 13-7 in conference play with a 15-point win over eventual national champion Connecticut.
 
After taking on the Pirates, the Rams will return to the Bronx on Tuesday night for their home opener against Binghamton.  Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ and WFUV.  To purchase tickets to Tuesday night's home opener, click here.