Gallery: (3-12-2024) Men's Basketball vs. Davidson (A-10s)
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Trailing Davidson by as many as 13 near the midway mark of the second half, Fordham battled back to force overtime before pulling away from the Wildcats, 71-63, in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship on Tuesday afternoon at Barclays Center.
Fordham, which has won an A-10 Tournament game for the third straight season, will advance to take on fifth-seeded VCU in Wednesday's second round. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. on USA Network.
Over the final 6:38 of regulation and overtime, Fordham held Davidson to just three points, including a 7-0 run to kick off overtime.
Sophomore guard Will Richardson paced the comeback, netting 16 of his season-high 20 points after halftime. His 20 points fell one shy of his career high of 21 set last year at VCU.
Josh Rivera proved incredibly efficient for the Rams, connecting on six of his seven field goal attempts to finish with 14 points in 22 minutes of action.
Abdou Tsimbila grabbed a game-high 10 boards to go along with nine points and two blocks. The 6-foot-9 senior from Cameroon finished a game-best +26. Antrell Charlton also finished with nine points in addition to his six rebounds and four assists.
After making just one of his first nine field goal tries, Kyle Rose converted on a driving layup with just two seconds remaining to force overtime. The senior guard also grabbed six boards, dished out four assists and swiped five steals. His five thefts moved him into sole possession of fifth place on the Fordham all-time steals list (218), passing Dave Maxwell (217, 1979-83).
Japhet Medor scored six of his eight points in the second half and came away with three steals in the win.
Fordham struggled to get things going in the early going of Tuesday's opener, making just two of its first 16 field goal tries and connecting on only seven of its first 31 attempts (22.6%) in the first half.
Trailing by only eight, 27-19, at the break, Fordham whittled its deficit down to five, 29-24, before an 8-0 Davidson run gave the Wildcats a 13-point edge with just over five minutes gone in the period.
Down by that same 13-point margin with 11 minutes to go, Fordham unleashed an 11-1 run over the next two minutes, making it a one-possession game, 45-42, after a Rivera triple with 9:05 remaining.
Davidson ballooned its lead back to six, 52-46, at the five-minute mark before Fordham scored six straight, knotting the game at 52 with 3:34 to go. It was the first time that the Wildcats surrendered the lead since the 4:31 mark of the opening half.
With his team ahead by one, 60-59, and 26 seconds remaining following a 1-for-2 trip to the line for Tsimbila, Davidson's Reed Bailey toed the line and made just one of his two free throw tries, giving Fordham the ball back down with 23 ticks on the clock. After a timeout, Fordham ran a set that found Rose on the wing with six seconds remaining. The senior drove to his left before banking home a shot off the glass, knotting the score at 61 and sending the contest into overtime.
On the opening possession of the extra period, Charlton drilled a corner trey to put the Rams ahead 64-61, their first lead since 2-0. After a steal from Rose on the other end, Tsimbila sent home a second-chance hook shot to make it a five-point game just over a minute into overtime. Davidson turned over the ball once again on the ensuing possession, as Richardson stole the ball near midcourt and slammed it home, forcing a Wildcat timeout after the quick 7-0 run.
In the face of stout Fordham pressure, Davidson missed its first six field goal attempts of the extra period before finally getting one to go down with three seconds remaining.
On the game, Fordham forced Davidson into 20 turnovers, shattering the Wildcats' previous season high of 15. Davidson averaged just 10.3 miscues per game entering the day.
Tuesday marked Fordham's first overtime win at the A-10 Tournament. The 2017 Rams fell to George Mason, 82-71, in extra time at Pittsburgh's PPG Paints Arena.
