Men’s Basketball Gets By UAlbany, 87-83

Bronx, N.Y. – At 4:21 a.m. this morning, winter officially arrived in the Northern Hemisphere. But the impending cold did nothing to cool down the fiery Fordham men's basketball offense, as the Rams scored 80 points in their fifth straight game, knocking off the University at Albany, 87-83, in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
With the win, Fordham's fifth straight, the Rams improve to 8-5 on the year while UAlbany evens its record at 7-7.
 
The Rams were led by grad student Matt Zona, who scored a career-high 15 points, shooting 3-for-4 from behind the arc, while sophomore guard/forward Jahmere Tripp added 14 points, six rebounds, and three steals. Also scoring in double figures for the Rams were grad student guard Japhet Medor, who also dished out a season-best nine assists, senior guard Jackie Johnson III, and junior forward Joshua Rivera, who each finished with 13 points.
 

Rivera was the hero in Fordham's last game, hitting a three with six seconds left to help the Rams defeat Bryant, and he was a hero on the other end of the court today, blocking a potential game-tying UAlbany three with six ticks on the clock.
 
Fordham led by ten, 83-73, following a Medor layup with 1:56 remaining when the Great Danes scored eight straight points, six on a pair of threes, to cut their deficit to two, 83-81, with 27 seconds left.
 
Medor hit one of two free throws with three seconds later to make it a three-point game, 84-81, but UAlbany quickly got it down to one on a Byron Joshua driving layup with 17 seconds on the clock.
 
Medor was fouled again one second later and made both free throws to give Fordham an 86-83 lead. The Great Danes quickly got the ball up court and found Amar'e Marshall on the left for a three-point attempt but Rivera was able to get a hand on it and Josh Riley corralled the rebound before getting fouled and hitting one of two charity shots to make it an 87-83 final.
 
Fordham used a 10-2 run to close out the first half and take a 46-35 lead at the break.
 
The Rams bumped the lead to eleven, 52-41, early in the second half before UAlbany went on a 13-2 run to knot the game at 54 on a pair of Justin Neely free throws with 13:11 left.
 
A Zona three 30 seconds later gave the Rams a lead they would not relinquish.
 
Takeaways
• Jackie Johnson III, who celebrated his birthday yesterday, has scored in double figures in all 13 games this year.
 
• Joshua Rivera has scored in double figures in six of the past seven games.
 
• Former Ram Joseph Chartouny (2015-18) was in attendance.
 
• Former WFUV announcer and current host of ESPN's Around the Horn Tony Reali also attended the game.
 
• The game featured a pair of former high school teammates in Fordham's Aleksander Pachucki and UAlbany's Kani Topez who both played for the Hoosac School last year.
 
• The last time a Fordham squad scored 80+ points in five consecutive games was from January 29-February 12, 1994.
 
• The last time the Rams won back-to-back games when surrendering 80+ points was in 1970-71 when they defeated #14 Notre Dame, 94-88, and Rutgers, 87-84, (Fordham actually accomplished the feat twice that season).
 
• It was just the second meeting between Fordham and UAlbany on the hardwood, the first coming in 1923.
 
• The game was played on World Basketball Day, celebrated each year on December 21.
 
• The game was the fifth of five games this year against an America East opponent for the Rams (Binghamton, New Hampshire, Maine, Bryant, and Albany), with Fordham winning all five.
 
By the Numbers
9 – Assists by Japhet Medor, tying his career-high, first set at FIU in 2023.
 
10.7 – Joshua Rivera's scoring average of the past seven games.
 
11 – Steals recorded by the Rams, the fourth time this year they had double figures in steals.
 
15 – Points by Matt Zona, a career-high (previous high was ten which he did twice, most recently vs. Maine this year).
 
85.4 – Scoring average for the Rams over the past five games.
 
177 – Career blocks for Abdou Tsimbila at Fordham, who had three today, fourth on the Fordham career list.
 
696 – All-time Fordham wins in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
1,602 – All-time wins for the Rams.
 
What's Next?
• After a ten days off for Christmas, the Rams return to action and open their 2024-25 Atlantic 10 season by hosting the Saint Louis University Billikens in the Rose Hill Gym on Tuesday, December 31, at 2:00 p.m.
 
• It will be the 21st meeting between the Rams and the Billikens.
 
• The Billikens lead the all-time series, which started in 1971-72, 16-4, but the Rams have taken the past two meetings.
 
• The Rams won last year's matchup, 67-65, in St. Louis as Elijah Gray hit a jumper with two seconds remaining and Kyle Rose led all scorers with 26 points.