Men’s Basketball Takes Down Duquesne, 79-67

Bronx, N.Y. – Valentine's Day was nine days ago but Fordham fans finally got their rose tonight. Kyle Rose that is. The senior guard scored a game-high 23 points, and added five rebounds, three assists, and two steals, to lead Fordham University to a 79-67 Atlantic 10 win over Duquesne in a sold out Rose Hill Gym in a nationally televised game on ESPN2.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 11-16 overall, 5-9 in the Atlantic 10, while Duquesne falls to 16-11 overall, 6-8 in the conference.
 
Rose connected on eight of his 12 field goal attempts while senior guard Antrell Charlton added 16 points for the Rams, shooting 5-for-7 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc, and he dished out eight assists. Senior forward Abdou Tsimbila finished with ten points, six rebounds, and six blocks.
 
The atmosphere of Rose "Thrill" harkened back to last year when the student section was packed and the building got loud.
 
The Rams trailed by six at the break, 32-26, but opened the second half with an 8-2 spurt to tie the game at 34 on a Charlton three two minutes into the half.
 
A Jake DiMichele three-pointer 30 seconds later untied the game for the Dukes before a Jahmere Tripp three-point play ignited an 11-0 Fordham run as the Rams took a 47-37 with 14:47 remaining following a Tsimbila layup. Tripp accounted for five of the eleven Ram points.
 
Fordham led by nine, 50-41, a little over a minute later, when a Romad Dean jumper started an 8-0 Ram run as Fordham took its biggest lead of the night, 58-41, on a Charlton free throw with 11:51 left.
 
Duquesne got the Fordham lead down to eight twice over the final five minutes, the final time at 71-63 with 2:58 on the clock. But Charlton put the Rams back up by double figures with a jumper 35 seconds later and the Rams held on for the win.
 
Takeaways
• Rose scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half as he was limited to just eight minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.
 
• The 23-point was the third 20-point game of the year for Rose and the fourth of his career.
 
• Freshman forward Jahmere Tripp made his first collegiate start and finished with six points, three rebounds, and three assists.
 
• Abdou Tsimbila, who had six blocks tonight, has blocked at least one shot in 24 of his 26 games this year.
 
• Tsimbila entered the game second in the Atlantic 10 in blocks (2.3/game).
 
• Kyle Rose, who had two steals tonight, entered the game second in the A-10 in steals (2.1/game).
 
• The Rams held Duquesne's leading scorer, Dae Grant, who entered the game averaging 17.3 ppg, to 2-for-8 shooting from the field (1-for-3 from behind the arc, though he did finish with 15 points thanks to ten free throws.
 
• After shooting 38.5% (10-26) in the first half, Fordham shot a sizzling 65.4% (17-26) in the second, including 55.6% (5-9) from long distance.
 
• All ten Rams who played tonight scored for Fordham.
 
• Fordham outscored Duquesne, 30-24, in the paint and 14-3 in fast break points.
 
• The Rams have taken five of the last six meetings with the Dukes.
 
• Fordham won for the fifth time in 15 games when trailing at the half.
 
• It was the Rams' first appearance on the Atlantic 10 Friday night game on ESPN.
 
• The game marked Fordham's first appearance on ESPN2 since the Rams hosted Massachusetts on February 14, 2008, a 76-72 Fordham win.
 
• The Rams last appearance on ESPN occurred on February 18, 2006, a home loss to Charlotte, while the last Fordham appearance on ESPNU was on December 12, 2017, a loss at Rutgers.
 
• Former men's basketball Rams Chuba Ohams and Ivan Raut were in attendance.
 
• Fordham football Ram, and NFL quarterback, John Skelton, was in attendance.
 
By the Numbers
6 – Different starting lineups used by the Rams this year.
 
7 – Rebounds by Joshua Rivera, tying his season-high.
 
8 – Rebounds by Romad Dean, a career-high (previous high was seven at Davidson on Tuesday night).
 
9 – Shots blocked by Fordham, led by six from Tsimbila.
 
23 – The final +/- for both Kyle Rose and Romad Dean.
 
34.5% - Duquesne's field goal percentage (19-55), the lowest mark for a Fordham Atlantic 10 opponent this year.
 
53 – Second half points for the Rams.
 
136 – Career games played by Kyle Rose, a school record.
 
157 – Career blocks for Abdou Tsimbila, sixth all-time for the Rams.
 
206 – Career steals for Kyle Rose, six on the Fordham career list.
 
689 – All-time wins in the Rose Hill Gym for the Rams.
 
1,589 – All-time wins for Fordham.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams continue the 2024 Atlantic 10 season by hosting the George Mason University Patriots in the historic Rose Hill Gym on Tuesday, February 27, at 7:00 p.m.
 
• It will be the 16th meeting between Fordham and George Mason on the hardwood.
 
• The Rams lead the all-time series, 10-5, taking two of the last three meetings.
 
• George Mason won last year's matchup, 64-58, in overtime on March 1 in Fairfax behind 17 points from Josh Oduro while Khalid Moore led all scorers for the Rams with 21.