Gallery: (12-1-2024) Men's Basketball vs. New Hampshire
BRONX – Today is the First Sunday of Advent, a time that the Church sees as a new beginning, a time to focus on what has been done in the past, and, more importantly, look forward to what can be done in the future. Fordham men's basketball fans hope that today is a new beginning for the Rams as they snapped a three-game losing streak with an 83-61 win over the University of New Hampshire in the historic Rose Hill Gym.
With the win, Fordham improves to 4-5 on the season while New Hampshire falls to 2-9.
The Rams were led by senior guard
Jackie Johnson III, who scored 16 points, shooting 4-for-9 from behind the arc, while grad student
Japhet Medor added 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists and grad student forward
Abdou Tsimbila and junior forward
Joshua Rivera each netted ten points.
Fordham took control of the game early, opening the contest with a 13-2 run, led by four points from Tsimbila, taking the 13-2 lead 5:20 into the first half.
The Wildcats shaved the Ram lead to ten, 15-5, on a Sami Pissis three-pointer two minutes later. But Fordham responded to the New Hampshire three with a 10-2 spurt to take a 25-7 on a Rivera three-point play midway through the half.
Fordham would build the lead to as many as 21, 39-18, following a
Matt Zona tip-in with 1:40 on the clock as the Rams took a 39-22 lead into the break.
New Hampshire cut the deficit to 16 early in the second half, 47-31, but Fordham quickly got the advantage back to 25, 56-31, on another Rivera three-point play with 12:39 remaining.
Takeaways
•
Jahmere Tripp made his first start of the season today, scoring nine points and adding four rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
• Freshman center
Jaden Smith blocked a pair of shots in the game to go with six points and three rebounds.
•
Jackie Johnson III has scored in double figures in all nine games this year.
• Johnson has scored 162 points in his first nine games in a Fordham uniform, the second most for a Ram in his first nine games (Jon Severer scored 166 points in his first nine games in 2013).
• Ten different players scored for the Rams today.
• Fordham led for 39:12 of the game.
• The Rams grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, the second straight game (sixth overall), that the Rams had double figures in offensive rebounds.
• Fordham has won all three meetings with New Hampshire.
By the Numbers
4 – Steals by
Jahmere Tripp, matching his career-high (set last week vs. Penn State).
5 – Assists for
Jahmere Tripp, a career-high (previous high was four vs. North Texas last year).
6.0 – Rebounding average for
Romad Dean, who had seven today, over the past four games.
11 – Steals recorded by Fordham, tying a season-high.
13 – Fouls called on the Rams, tying a season-low.
22 – First half points for New Hampshire, a season-low for a Fordham opponent.
42 – Points in the paint for the Rams, compared to 28 for New Hampshire.
89.5% - Fordham's free throw shooting percentage in the game, a season -high.
169 – Career blocks for
Abdou Tsimbila, who had one today, fourth on the Fordham career list.
693 – All-time wins for Fordham in the Rose Hill Gym.
What's Next?
• The Rams continue the 2024-25 season by hosting the FDU Knights in the historic Rose Hill Gym on Wednesday, December 4, at 7:00 p.m.
• It will be the fifth meeting between the Rams and the Knights, who matchup for the second straight year.
• Fordham has taken all four previous meetings, including an 80-52 win in the Rose Hill Gym last November as Josh Rivera scored 13 points and added seven rebounds and
Abdou Tsimbila added ten points..
• The Rams are 50-14 against schools currently in the Northeast Conference.
