Men’s Basketball Outlasts George Mason, 61-60

Bronx, N.Y. – On February 27, 1980, the first - and final - Grammy for Best Disco Recording was awarded to Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." The song is quite fitting for the Fordham University men's basketball squad tonight as they survived a 14-point second half deficit and Kyle Rose made sure the Rams did more than survive, hitting a three-pointer with four seconds left, to lift Fordham to a 61-60 Atlantic 10 win over George Mason University in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 12-16 overall, 6-9 in the Atlantic 10, while George Mason falls to 18-10 overall, 7-8 in the conference.
 
Rose finished with a game-high 16 points, all coming in the second half, and he added four rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Sophomore guard Will Richardson and sophomore forward Romad Dean each netted ten for the Rams.
 
Fordham recorded 14 offensive rebounds on the night but none was more important than the final one as Rose tied up a Patriot defender following his missed three with the possession arrow pointing to the Rams with six seconds remaining.
 
Antrell Charlton inbounded the ball directly to Rose in front of the Fordham bench and Rose's three went through the net with four seconds remaining. George Mason had a chance for the win but a half court heave was off as the buzzer sounded.
 
The Rams trailed 19-18 at the break following a low scoring first half but George Mason opened the second 20 minutes with a 21-8 run to take its biggest lead of the night, 40-26, on an Austin Ball three-pointer with 12:22 left.
 
Charlton answered with a three 14 seconds later for Fordham as the Ram started to chip away at the Patriots' lead. The Rams got the deficit down to ten three times over the next two minutes, the final time at 47-37 with 9:13 on the clock.
 
Two Dean free throws a minute later started a 15-4 run for the Rams as Fordham took its first lead of the half, 52-51, on a Rose three with 4:44 left.
 
The lead was short-lived as a Keyshawn Hall layup 26 seconds later put George Mason up one, 53-52, and the Patriots led by three, 56-53, following a pair of Hall free throws with 3:31 remaining.
 
Richardson connected on one of two free throws with Charlton grabbing the offensive rebound and Rose was fouled and hit both free throws to knot the game at 56 with 3:08 on the clock.
 
Rose untied the game 34 seconds later with a floater that was blocked but goaltending was called on the play.
 
The Patriots retied the game at 58 on a Kelly jumper in the lane with 2:09 remaining and took a 60-58 lead as Kelly rebounded a miss and put it in with 24 seconds left.
 
Takeaways
• Abdou Tsimbila, who had four blocks tonight, has blocked at least one shot in 25 of his 27 games this year.
 
• Tsimbila entered the game second in the Atlantic 10 in blocks (2.4/game).
 
• Kyle Rose, who had two steals tonight, entered the game second in the A-10 in steals (2.1/game).
 
• Kyle Rose has scored in double figures in four of his past five games and six of his last eight.
 
• Kyle Rose is averaging 13.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg in Atlantic 10 play.
 
• Antrell Charlton has 43 assists and only 15 turnovers over the past 12 games.
 
• The Rams connected on 12 field goals in the second half, ten from behind the arc.
 
• Fordham recorded double figures in offensive rebounds for the fourth straight game and the 23rd time in 28 games this year.
 
• Neither team shot 30% in the first half with George Mason shooting 29.6% (8-17) and the Rams 21.2% (7-33).
 
• The second half was the opposite as the Patriots shot 58.3% (14-24) while Fordham shot 46-2% (12-26), 58.8% (10-17).
 
• Fordham now leads the all-time series with George Mason, 10-6, winning three of the past four meetings.
 
By the Numbers
8 – Blocks recorded by the Rams, led by four from Abdou Tsimbila.
 
9 – Rebounds by Abdou Tsimbila, a game-high.
 
10 – Points scored by Romad Dean, tying his season-high and one point shy of his career-best.
 
+12 – Romad Dean's +/- for the game after notching a +23 in the Duquesne win on Friday.
 
14 – Offensive rebounds for the Rams.
 
16 – Double figure scoring games for Will Richardson this season, a team-high.
 
19 – First half points for George Mason, the fewest for a Fordham opponent this year.
 
36 – Career double figure scoring games for Kyle Rose.
 
67 – Blocks this season by Abdou Tsimbila, tied for the eighth best single season for Fordham.
 
137 – Career games played by Kyle Rose, a school record.
 
161 – Career blocks for Abdou Tsimbila, moving him into fifth on the all-time list for the Rams.
 
208 – Career steals for Kyle Rose, six on the Fordham career list.
 
690 – All-time wins in the Rose Hill Gym for the Rams.
 
1,590 – All-time wins for Fordham.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams continue the 2024 Atlantic 10 season by traveling to Philadelphia to face the Saint Joseph's University Hawks in Hagan Arena the on Saturday, March 2, at 12:30 p.m.
 
• It will be the 60th meeting between Fordham and Saint Joseph's on the hardwood.
 
• The Hawks lead the all-time series, which started in the 1919-20 season, 40-19, and have won eight of the past ten over the Rams.
 
• Fordham took last year's meeting, 66-54, in the Rose Hill Gym on January 7 as Darius Quisenberry netted 15 points for the Rams while Antrell Charlton added eleven.