Men’s Basketball Downed at Davidson

Davidson, N.C. – "Mother Nature is not sweet", so said John Shelby Spong, an American bishop of the Episcopal Church who was born in Charlotte, N.C. The Fordham men's basketball team experienced a not so sweet Mother Nature this week. On Wednesday the Rams played in an empty Siegel Center as the city of Richmond was enduring a water shortage caused by a winter storm. Last night, the Rams witnessed a band of snow and freezing rain in the Charlotte area that made for a slippery trip to Davidson this morning. And then the Rams ran into a hot Davidson College team as the Wildcats thwarted a second half comeback attempt by the Rams, defeating Fordham 74-64, in an Atlantic 10 contest in Belk Arena.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 8-9 overall, 0-4 in the Atlantic 10, while Davidson improves to 12-4 overall, 2-1 in the conference.

The Rams were led by senior guard Jackie Johnson III and grad student guard Japhet Medor, who each netted 20 points, with Medor adding five assists. Junior forward Romad Dean added six points and a team-high ten rebounds.
 
Fordham trailed by 16 at the break, 36-20, and bumped it to 18 with the first basket of the second half, 38-20, the Wildcats' largest lead of the day.
 
 A Medor layup ignited a 13-6 Fordham run as the Rams made it in eleven-point game, 44-33, following a Johnson floater with 15:19 remaining.
 
Davidson increased the lead to 12, 48-36, just over a minute later when five straight points from Matt Zona, the first three on a three-point play, pulled the Rams within seven, 48-41, with 12:47 on the clock.
 
The Wildcats built the lead back to 14, 60-46, three minutes later and the Rams whittled away at the lead, getting to within seven, 68-61, on a Medor driving layup with 1:05 left but that was as close as they would get.
 
The Rams got off to a slow start as Davidson scored the first ten points before a Japhet Medor jumper got Fordham on the board 4:20 into the game.
 
A Matt Zona layup 29 seconds later cut the Fordham deficit to six, 10-4, and a Johnson driving layup with 12:48 remaining in the half pulled the Rams within five, 16-11.
 
But the Wildcats responded with a 12-2 run to take a 28-13 lead on a Reed Bailey hook shot at the 7:32 mark and took the 16-point lead at the break, 36-20,
 
Takeaways
• It was the third time this year that the Rams had two 20-point scorers in a game (FDU and Manhattan).
 
• After having his streak of 15 straight double figure scoring games snapped at VCU on Wednesday, Jackie Johnson III recorded his seventh 20-point game of the season.
 
• Johnson has hit at least one three-pointer in 15 of the 16 games this year.
 
• Japhet Medor has scored in double figures in five of the past six games.
 
• The Rams are 2-8 all-time at Davidson with wins coming in 2022-23 and 2016-17.
 
• Davidson entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 in three-point shooting percentage (.370) and was fourth in three-pointers made/game (8.7) and shot 31.3% today (5-16).
 
• Davidson is 10-0 at home
 
• The Wildcats were playing for the first time since last Saturday.
 
• Davidson has an international roster with student-athletes from England, New Zealand, Italy, and Latvia.
 
• Davidson and Fordham will meet again on February 22 in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
By the Numbers
4 – Steals by the Rams, a season-low.
 
10 – Rebounds by Romad Dean, a season-high.
 
14.0 - Japhet Medor's scoring average over the past six games.
 
40 – Career double figure scoring games for Japhet Medor
 
45 – Three-pointers made by Jackie Johnson II this year.
 
46 – Career double figure scoring games for Jackie Johnson III
 
602 - Career rebounds at Fordham for Abdou Tsimbila, who had three today, 21st on the Rams' career list.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams continue their 2024-25 Atlantic 10 season by hosting the University of Massachusetts Minutemen in the historic Rose Hill Gym on Wednesday, January 15, at 7:00 p.m.
 
• It will be the 54th meeting between Fordham and Massachusetts on the hardwood.
 
• The Minutemen lead the all-time series, which started in the 1967-68 season, 34-19, but the two teams have split the past four meetings.
 
• UMass took last year's matchup, 66-64, in Amherst on March 6 as Josh Cohen scored 19 points and added nine rebounds for the Minutemen while Abdou Tsimbila had 14 points and ten rebounds for the Rams.