Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes (PDF)
 
BRONX, N.Y. (Dec. 30, 2024) – Riding a five-game winning streak to close non-conference play, the Fordham men's basketball team will open up its Atlantic 10 schedule on Tuesday afternoon when it plays host to Saint Louis.
 
Tip-off from the historic Rose Hill Gym is set for 2 p.m. on SNY and ESPN+ with Mike Watts and Andrew Bogusch on the call.  90.7 FM WFUV and the WFUV Youtube page will also carry the game with Nick Guzman and Chaz McAdams narrating the action.
 
Fans can get an early start on their New Year's Eve celebrations by purchasing two general admission tickets for just $20.25.  After the game, fans can head down to Arthur Avenue, where they will receive 15% off their bill at either Michelangelo's (2477 Arthur) or Frankie's (2376 Arthur) by showing their game ticket.
 
 The Rams will look to win their A-10 opener for the second straight season and the third time in the last four years.  Prior to Head Coach Keith Urgo arriving as Kyle Neptune's associate head coach in 2021-22, Fordham was just 3-23 in league openers dating back to 1995-96.
 
Over the team's past five games, Fordham's offense has found a new gear.  On their current winning streak, the Rams are averaging 85.4 points per game and have scored 83 or more in all five opportunities.  Prior to this season, the Rams last scored 80 or more in five straight games from Jan. 29 to Feb. 12, 1994, during Fordham's penultimate season in the Patriot League.  Fordham's last time scoring 80 or more in six straight games came during the 1986-87 season (Dec. 19-Jan. 8).
 
Entering the first day of conference play, Jackie Johnson III leads the Atlantic 10 and ranks 53^rd nationally in scoring at 18.5 points per game.  The senior guard from Wichita, Kan., reached double figures in all 13 of Fordham's non-league contests and led the team in scoring 10 times.
 
 Johnson (19.0 ppg) is one of six Rams averaging at least 9.0 points per outing on the team's current five-game tear.  Japhet Medor is averaging 11.8 points in addition to a team-best 5.2 assists per contest.  Jahmere Tripp is averaging 10.4 points and 6.2 rebounds over the last five games while Josh Rivera has added 10.0 points on 47.8% shooting.  Romad Dean (9.6 ppg) and Matt Zona (9.2 ppg) are a combined 14-of-24 (58.3%) from beyond the arc since the start of December.
 
In the Rams' final non-conference game against UAlbany, Zona had the most productive outing of his collegiate tenure, posting a career-high 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including a 3-for-4 showing from 3-point range.
 
Under the direction of first-year head coach Josh Schertz, Saint Louis enters A-10 play with a record of 7-6 following a 19-point win over NAIA William Woods on Saturday afternoon.  Before that victory, the Billikens had lost four of their last five against San Francisco, Illinois State, Wofford and Grand Canyon with their lone win coming against Chicago State.
 
The Billikens are led offensively by senior guard Isaiah Swope, who is averaging 17.9 points and 5.4 assists per game.  Swope was a key part of Schertz's Indiana State team that finished as runner-up in the NIT to Seton Hall last season.  Robbie Avila, a national celebrity last season during Indiana State's run, also transferred to Saint Louis with Schertz and is averaging 17.8 points and 5.7 boards in 10 appearances for the Billikens.  In his sixth year with the program, redshirt senior guard Gibson Jimmerson is one of three Billikens averaging at least 17.8 points per game, doing so in large part to a 39.8% showing from beyond the arc (43-of-108).  Jimmerson is a three-time All-Atlantic 10 selection during his career at Saint Louis.
 
Fordham and Saint Louis will face off for the 21^st time in the history of the two programs with the Billikens owning a 15-5 edge in the series.  The Rams have won each of the last two meetings, including a 67-65 thriller last season in St. Louis that saw Elijah Gray sink a fadeaway elbow jumper with just two seconds remaining.  The season prior, Fordham knocked off the first-place Billikens, 75-65, inside a rocking Rose Hill Gym behind 27 points from Darius Quisenberry and 20 from Khalid Moore.
 
The Rams will wrap up their mini homestand to start A-10 play on Saturday, Jan. 4, when they host St. Bonaventure for a 2 p.m. tip.