Men’s Basketball Outlasts Bryant, 86-84

Uncasville, Conn. – Tomorrow is Gaudette Sunday, a day back in 2014, Pope Francis said should be  known as the "Sunday of joy", and that instead of fretting about "all they still haven't" done to prepare for Christmas, people should "think of all the good things life has given you." Well Gaudette Sunday came a day early for Fordham basketball fans as the Rams experienced a "Saturday of Joy" and praised the good things that life has given them, more specifically senior guard Jackie Johnson III and junior forward Joshua Rivera as the duo led Fordham to an 86-84 win over Bryant University at the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase game at the Mohegan Sun.
 
With the win, Fordham's fourth straight, the Rams improve to 7-5 on the year while Bryant falls to 6-7.
 
Johnson, who was named the game MVP, led all scorers in the game with 29 points, and he added four steals, while Rivera finished with 17, including a step back three with 6.5 seconds remaining to give the Rams the 86-84 lead. Grad student guard Japhet Medor also netted 17 for the Rams, while dishing out four assists, and grad student forward Abdou Tsimbila added ten.
 
Fordham trailed 84-83, after Kvonn Cramer hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds remaining. Medor brought the ball up court for the Rams and drove to the basket before kicking it out to the corner. Fordham moved the ball around the three-point line, getting it to Rivera just to the right of the key and his three found nothing but net.
 
After a timeout, Bryant got the ball to the corner in front of their bench where Tsimbila contested a Barry Evans three that bounced off the rim as the final horn sounded.  
 
The Rams held a six-point lead at the break, 42-36, and led by six 1:30 into the second, 46-40, when Bryant used a 9-2 spurt to take a 49-48 lead with 15:53 left.
 
The lead would change hands seven times over the next eight minutes before the Rams took a six-point advantage, 68-62, on a Medor layup with 7:45 on the clock.
 
But the Bulldogs wouldn't back down, going on a 12-3 run to take a 74-71 lead with 5:12 left before the Rams responded with eight straight points to take 79-74 lead on a Johnson three with 4:21 remaining.
 
Fordham took a five-point lead again two minutes later, 83-78, before Bryant scored the next six points to take an 84-83 lead, the final two on Cramer's free throw after Tsimbila was whistled for a foul on a missed Fordham free throw.
 
Neither team held more than a four point lead early but the Rams scored 13 straight points midway through the half to turn a  15-13 deficit into a 26-15 lad following a Johnson driving layup with 7:29 left in the half. Johnson scored eight points in the run.
 
After a Bryant basket made it a 26-17 game Fordham went on a 12-3 run to take its biggest lead of the half, 38-20 on a Rivera dunk with 3:48 remaining. Johnson again led the Ram run with six points.
 
But the Bulldogs came out of a timeout hot, scoring the next 12 points to make it a six-point game, 38-32, two minutes later and the Rams held a six-point lead at the break, 42-26.
 
Takeaways
• Jackie Johnson III has scored in double figures in all 12 games this year.
 
• It was Johnson's fifth 20-point game of the year and the eighth of his career.
 
• Former Ram Luke Devine was in attendance.
 
• After outrebounding their last three opponents by 15.7 rpg, the Rams outrebounded the Bulldogs by one today, 38-37.
 
• The last time a Fordham team scored 80-points in four consecutive games was in 2000.
 
• It was just the second meeting between Fordham and Bryant on the hardwood (the first was in 2019).
 
• The game was the fourth of five games this year against an America East opponent for the Rams (Binghamton, New Hampshire, Maine, and Albany),
 
• The Bulldogs entered the game averaging 8.7 made three-pointers/game but were held to six today.
 
• The game marked a Martelli trifecta for the Rams. Phil Martelli, Jr., is the head coach for Bryant while his father, Phil Sr., the longtime head coach at Saint Joseph's, was the color commentator for the Rams' win over Seton Hall on FS2, and his brother, Jimmy, is an assistant coach at Penn State, who the Rams played in Daytona Beach.
 
• Bryant entered the game among the top ten Division I teams in the nation in tempo (possessions/40 minutes).
 
• The Rams were familiar with two members of the Bryant squad, Rafael Pinzon, Bryant's leading scorer who did not play today, played at St. John's from 2021-23, and Barry Evans, who played at St. Bonaventure the past two years.
 
By the Numbers
4 – Steals by Jackie Johnson III, a career-high (previous high was three which he did four times).
 
10 – Field goals made by Jackie Johnson III, tying his career-high set against UMass in 2022.
 
12 - Offensive rebounds by Fordham, the fifth straight game and ninth overall game that the Rams have double digits in offensive rebounds.
 
29 – Points by Jackie Johnson, a season-high and one shy of his career-best.
 
85.0 - Fordham's scoring average over the past four games.
 
580 – Career rebounds for Abdou Tsimbila at Fordham (he also had 25 at Penn State).
 
What's Next?
• After a week off to finish finals, the Rams continue the 2024-25 season by hosting the University at Albany Great Danes in the Rose Hill Gym on Saturday, December 21, at 2:00 p.m.
 
• It will be just the second meeting between the Rams and the Great Danes.
 
• Fordham took the first matchup, 40-17, back in 1923.
 
• The game will be the fifth of five games against America East opponents this year (Binghamton, New Hampshire, Maine, and Bryant).
 
• The Rams are 19-6 against schools currently in the America East Conference.